


Tale as Old as Time

by chosuiri



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Beauty and the Beast AU, M/M, Slow Burn, follows general plotline of the movie but deviates in a lots of ways too, it's rlly slow burn. the slow burn is the problem here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-06-16 19:23:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15444096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chosuiri/pseuds/chosuiri
Summary: "Upon breaking off an engagement with his fiancée, she bestows the noble with a parting gift: a curse.A curse deeming it impossible for those to love him beyond lust and desire, and those who harbor respect and platonic love for him are cursed."So goes the stories passed around in the village...Who could love a beast, after all?





	1. a beastly prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is pretty much inspired by the disney movie (and also the fact that takuya satou (ryuu's seiyuu) is singing beauty and the beast in the next koe no oujisama which is #lit), but mostly in terms of there's talking objects... i took a lot of creative liberties here.
> 
> also, this should have a pretty consistent updating schedule until where i haven't written yet, oops. i don't know exactly how much chapters this will be (yet) but i'm thinking it could go from 6-10. wide range. i know. 
> 
> bUT forget all about that and enjoy!

”This engagement… as I thought, I don't think I can do it.” He announces as soon as he has a chance to speak up. During supper isn't the best timing for him, considering that he thought that he'd be easily shadowed and drowned out by the nobles chatting about politics and the like. So blurting out his true feelings so rudely does catch their attention, but at the cost of his reputation as a nobleman’s son and even his fiancee's favor toward him.

He knew it as soon as their first meeting that it wouldn't work out, especially considering how her eyes lingered on his body only, and whenever they did meet his-- they only were stone cold whenever he talked, and she hasn't been very responsive to his attempts at small talk. It's to be expected, she doesn't seem to care anything else about him aside for his physical features.

Can he really spend the rest of his life like this? To be whisked away to the tiring and busy days of a duke and only coming back to a wife who doesn’t care for him as a person-- he can’t do it. He'd rather feel the ocean breeze tickle his cheeks, the gently crashing waves lull him into serenity, and the freedom to be _himself._ He’s a fisherman at heart, so this new arrangement of him as a nobleman’s stepson hasn’t brought him anything besides grief.

His fiancee shoots a glare at him upon his words, but quickly conceals this to instead take on a more crestfallen guise. “Ryuu-sama? You can’t be breaking off the engagement, right? You...” Suddenly her eyes start to swell with tears, and her eyes flitter about the dining hall until they meet its target. Ryuu doesn’t bother to look for the recipient, noticing her eyes are looking too far away from the table to even be someone within the dinner party. He sucks in a breath, watching her carefully as she, for a split second, unveils a sinister smile. She then returns to her artifice, and produces a handkerchief to dab at her tears. Her maids rush into to attend to her, patting her back and even wiping off her tears before they ruined her makeup.

She’s a coy one. It’s honestly a surprise that he has been able to detect it, but that’s only been possible with the help of his friend from another family. He’s the one who keenly realized her true intentions and informed Ryuu of them, which resulted him in making the decision to break off the engagement. He really should’ve tried to do it as soon as possible, but his family hasn’t given him a single chance until now-- months later.

She sniffs some more, but finally ceases her feigned cry. “It’s a real shame it has to be this way, but I understand your feelings. It must be another woman, huh? Who is she?”

Ryuu blinks, and shakes his head, “there’s no woman-- I promise! I just don’t think I’m at all deserving of you.” He hears his butler snicker from behind him, but he quickly stifles it before Ryuu can even rebuke him playfully. “That is all, I promise.”

“... so be it.” She murmurs, waving off her servants with a single flick of her hand. One maid lingers behind, however, and she seems to wait for a signal before leaving. The noblewoman nods, indicating for her maid to leave. “With that, I’d like to give you a parting gift.” She clasps her hands together.

His butler steps in closer to Ryuu’s side, and murmurs in his ear, “She seemed well-prepared for this, Ryuu.”

Ryuu stays silent, his frown only growing bigger at the thought. He’s always been insightful and while he likes to be childish sometimes and loves to mercilessly tease him (however his friend suffered more from his taunts than anything), so Ryuu has come to trust the younger boy with his life. At first the boy looked to be more of a noble than he has, but his venomous tongue deemed otherwise. Either way, Ryuu has been infinitely grateful for his professionalism. He has however, seen some of the soft moments he’s had when he crosses path with his younger twin, who works as a secretary for Ryuu’s stepfather, who refused to give him a job that would exhaust him, considering the boy’s weak constitution.

A couple of minutes later, the maid comes back with an ornately decorated blue sack with gold accents and tied shut with a matching golden ribbon. She then makes eye contact with Ryuu, and he’s urged to take out a hand. She gently places the sack in his hand, and the then nods in acknowledgement. She pulls back to the other side of the table, and then steps back further to blend into the wall.

“Thank you for the gift.” Ryuu tries to express his gratitude earnestly and hide the suspicion he held for it. Taking a deep breath, he loosens the sack and turns it upside down, emptying its contents onto the palm of his hand. Out pops an absolutely breathtaking seashell dappled with a dark blue. However, quickly it begins to glow with some sort of magic-- the light begins to transfer to him. He looks up, bewildered by the phenomenon, and notices his fiancee smirk.

“You, who so wickedly ruined my plans… you are now to never be able to love another again without any consequences. You will attract everyone, but they’ll only desire you for your body! Unless you get someone to fall for your foolish and plain personality, you will not be surrounded by anyone who loves you for who you really are. Who could love a beast, after all?”

A fairytale curse? It’s just like the stories of the beauty and the beast-- so he’s to turn into an ugly beast? He balks at her words, only able to stare longingly at the shell. The dining room begins to panic, his ex-fiancee disappearing without a trace while the rest of the family and their staff begin to flee the scene. He stays frozen in place, and when he tries to speak his protests, nothing will come out. His eyes move to his younger brothers, who are promptly urged out of their seats. He can’t even tell them to resist, or tell them to stay with him-- he wouldn’t want to hurt them.

So, if it’s like that fairytale…

He doubts his savior will prance right into the estate, so realistically… wouldn’t it be better if he isolates himself? That way, no one will be affected by this curse.

Even if he has to suffer all by himself…

“Ryuu. Snap out of it.” A voice cuts in, stirring Ryuu from his trance. He looks to the owner of the voice, who reveals himself to be his butler. Ryuu glances around the room, confirming that it is indeed empty with the exception of him and Tenn. So they all escaped out of fear. “I bet you’re thinking something like _it’d be better if I disappeared_.”

“Tenn…” He whispers, before hanging his head down shamefully. “You should leave too. I’ll be fine on my own-- maybe I’ll be able to return to those days.”

“With that curse? I don’t think so.” Tenn sighs, “my magic isn’t strong enough to reverse the curse or even resist it, so we will definitely see these consequences. It’s very strong, she must’ve made a deal with a strong sorceress. Hand me the shell.”

Ryuu complies, raising his hand for Tenn to reach. Tenn plucks it out of the other’s hand, and inspects it in his own. As soon as he brushes it, a miniscule piece breaks off. “So it really resembles that fairy tale’s curse. How silly, to use a children’s story as a model for a curse. However, this helps us. I’m assuming I will change into an object. We’ll just have to find out the trigger. And then we’ll hope someone comes in here and falls in love with you for real. Hopefully before this shell crumbles to nothing.”

“That’s easier said than done!” Ryuu exclaims quickly, cheeks flushed at the thought.

Tenn lets out a low whistle, “yeah. Especially with those pheromones oozing out of you… a beast, huh. An erotic beast, that is.”

“E-Erotic?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like those who lust for you because of these will be affected directly by the curse, but those who come to love you platonically…” Tenn pauses, and strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Ryuu, you’re important to me. I promise that I’ll definitely help you break that curse.”

Ryuu smiles softly in return, “Tenn… thank you so much. You’re really a good kid after all.” He moves a hand to affectionately muss up Tenn’s hair.

“H-Hey, stop that.” Tenn blushes, his composure being wrecked in that moment. “It’s because we’re friends, after all…” He muses, but he immediately perks up. Ryuu blinks, and looks down to notice a sparkling sensation to emit from himself to Tenn’s body. He’s enveloped in a bright light, causing Ryuu to have to look away.

The sound of an object dropping on the table along with the gentle clatter of the seashell grabs Ryuu’s attention, and he finally looks back to see an intricate, yet sizeable wooden clock. It’s small enough to be carried around by him alone, but it’s of course out of place here. He would’ve thought it was just any normal clock haphazardly placed on the dining table, but he finally notices its cartoonish face.

“Ryuu, what am I?” So it’s Tenn, after all.

“A clock-- you’re kind of cute!”

Tenn scowls. “You’re so oblivious that I think I’m going to have to stay this way for the rest of my life. So it seems like saying all that embarrassing stuff is the trigger.”

More of the magic that surrounded Ryuu’s body fans out, and begin to go into different directions.

The clock sighs, “or just everyone who stayed in this mansion apparently must love you enough to qualify for the curse. Great. I hope Gaku stays away.”

“Honestly, I don’t want him to have to get involved with this mess either…” Ryuu laments, shaking his head. WIth a resigned sigh, he picks up the seashell and places it back inside the sack. He then puts the sack into his pocket, setting a mental reminder to prepare a display case for it later-- imitating the story as he remembered it being depicted. “For now, let’s see who stayed in the castle. Let’s go, Tenn.”

“I hope Riku is okay...” Tenn mutters, and seems to react when Ryuu tries to pick him up. “Hey, I may be a clock, but I can still get around.”

“S-Sorry…” Ryuu mumbles as he sets him back down on the table. Tenn lets out a huff, mustering the best annoyed expression as he walks ahead of him.

It looks too cute that he can’t find it in him to take Tenn’s new appearance seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading-- next two chapters will be in tamaki's perspective, then the rest will be in sougo's (probably. i might add in ryuu's perspective again at one point. we'll see. i didn't get that far yet.)
> 
> if you're interested in keeping up w/me and my writing process and also other cool stuff (memes), check me out on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea)!
> 
> for now i'll just upload what i have slowly each day! but only like 3 chapters after this unless i magically finish chapter 4


	2. for her sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tamaki time

Tamaki grumbles, restlessly clenching and unclenching onto his shirt as he sits at his sister's bedside. “Aya…” He grimaces, knowing well that his anticipated answer from her will not come right now.

His younger sister has been afflicted with an illness of sorts. Tamaki isn't quite aware of all the technicalities and the likes, but what matters is that Aya is suffering gravely from it. It's been like this only since today, and it already hurts him to see her in such pain. Her symptoms are mostly a weakened state and a high fever, and it hadn't gone down at all.

Their guardian, Sougo, has tried all he could to help the poor girl, but there's even some things he isn't capable of. When he realized that this was out of his expertise, he went and sought for a doctor immediately. Tamaki sighs, putting a hand over her forehead, and shakes his head. Still no sign of going down. The towel she has feels way too warm, so Tamaki stirs up from his seat and walks over to the basin filled with water nearby. He submerges the towel inside. Upon taking it out of the water after letting it absorb the water, he wrings the towel. He then places it back on his sister's forehead, again frowning at the disgruntled expression she has in her slumber.

Now, he's stuck waiting again. He continues to keep his gaze on Aya, breath hitching each time he notices her twitch in her sleep. The two of them have been living on their own for a while, having ran away from their home after their mother passed away. He had no sympathy or respect for the man who called himself their father, so as soon as he had an opening, he had packed his and his sister’s belongings and escaped with her.

How long has it been since then? After they left their original village, the two of them got lost in the woods, but was picked up by a young man who also seemed to be on the run. Even though Tamaki hadn’t gotten along with him quite that well, he beared with it for his sister’s sake. Eventually, once they were far away from all of their prior homes, they’ve settled into this snug, yet bustling village with a surprisingly small population. The three of them became a family, Sougo effectively filling both the roles of their mother and father.

Aya got attached to Sougo first, but soon Tamaki came to an understanding with the older despite their differences. (Deep down, Tamaki noticed those small similarities Sougo had to his mother-- he then decided he’d protect him, too.)

But he had a sense of security knowing that his sister was safe here. If she succumbs to illness, then Tamaki doesn’t know what he’ll do. He swore to protect his guardian in his own heart, and he knows that Sougo will reciprocate, but… it won’t be the same.

What especially bothers him is the fact that he doesn’t seem to be able to do _anything_ about it. He’s completely helpless-- it’s out of his control, sure, but that doesn’t ease the guilt at all.

Lost in his own anxious thoughts about his sister, Tamaki doesn’t notice the door opening and the arrival of Sougo alongside another man with glasses and a sharp look in his eyes. It can only be one person. “Sou-chan, is he..?”

Sougo nods, motioning to the taller man. “Yes… this is Yamato-san. Let's respect him and give him some privacy, alright?”

Yamato flashes a small smile at Tamaki. “Yeah, I'm a doctor. Just leave it to me, okay Tama?”

Tamaki blinks, “Tama?” He doesn't mind nicknames at all, in fact he gave one to everyone he knew, but he's a little wary of him. Is it really okay to let him be alone? “Hey, why can't I stay in here? I wanna know how we can help Aya! This guy doesn't look much of a doctor.”

Yamato chuckles, “not much of a doctor? Trust me, I am a doctor~”

“Tamaki-kun! You're being rude.” Sougo frowns, “is it too much to ask? Tamaki-kun, let's go outside so we don't bother him. Okay?”

“Sorry, I'll try to be fast.” Yamato apologizes quickly, “it'll just be easier for me to do my job without any distractions.”

He pouts, “fine, Yama-san… you gotta know how to help her! I still don’t think you’re really a doctor, but maybe I will if you save her.”

The so-called doctor laughs again, “do you need to see my certification?”

“No…” Tamaki mutters, “that sounds like a pain. Check up on Aya already.”

Yamato offers him a smile, “I’ll see what I can do. Mind leaving me? It’s secret doctor stuff.”

“Yamato-san, you’re making him even more suspicious!” Sougo protests quickly, grabbing Tamaki by his wrist. Slowly, he edges the both of them over to the door. “We’ll make some tea. Isn’t that right, Tamaki-kun?” Sougo remarks, putting emphasis on the last question as he pushes the door open.

Tamaki gulps, but nods nonetheless.

“You should be easier on him, Sou.” Yamato calls out as he watches Tamaki and Sougo leave the room.

Yeah, he really should. _Geez, Sou-chan_.

* * *

He grumbles as he grasps onto the tray of snacks tightly, mouth watering as he stared upon them. Isn’t… Sougo serving all his snacks to their guest? Rude! Totally rude, that’s all his! Tamaki makes a mental note to store all of the cakes he buys inside his room… hidden from Sougo’s evil clutches. Tamaki thinks to mention it to definitely make sure he won’t be seeing this outright disrespect in the future, but one glance at Sougo’s solemn expression causes Tamaki to keep his mouth shut.

Sougo turns slightly, nudging the door back open with his shoulder. He sets his own tray of tea on Aya’s desk. Tamaki mimics this, letting go of the tray with one hand to brush some of her stuff aside to make more room. Satisfied with his placement, he sneaks a cake in his hand and takes a large bite of it. Delicious as he thought they would be when he bought them. Maybe he’ll just eat them all now so he can get his money’s worth.

Sougo clears his throat.

 _Uwah, he knew what I was thinking_ , Tamaki shoots one last longing look at the tray of sweets, and turns around. Of course, he keeps devouring the cake. It was a simple blueberry cake, but he doesn’t care. It still tastes good.

“Yamato-san, did you figure it out?” Sougo finally speaks up, voice dripping with concern for Aya. It’s sort of amazing how he manages to stick to his weird noble etiquette despite his own worries about Aya’s condition.

Yamato nods, standing up from the chair by her bed and walking over to where Sougo and Tamaki are. “So the symptoms aren’t too terrible yet. As long as she rests it should be fine… well, the bigger problem is… y’see, there’s a cure. But as far as I know, our apothecary doesn’t have the herbs available to concoct it.”

“Seriously? We need to get it as fast as possible!” Tamaki exclaims as soon as he finishes his cake. “Then where can we get it?”

Yamato sighs, shaking his head as he hesitantly scratches the back of his neck. “About that… it only grows in the garden of this mansion deep, deep in the forest.”

“Huh? Then that’s no problem. I’ll go there, Yama-san.” Tamaki responds immediately, straightening his back and looking straight at the doctor. There’s no way he’s going to let this chance go. If there’s a way he can help her, then... He’ll gladly brave any danger for it.

“Oi, Tama… that’s a dangerous place you’re getting into there.” Yamato grimaces, “y’know that mansion... It has a curse. There’s talk of a beast in there, so everyone usually stays away. No one dares approaches that place. Those who went there haven’t ever come back.”

“I don’t care. I’ll help Aya even if I die trying!” Tamaki shouts, ripping his gaze away from the doctor to stare at his guardian. “Sou-chan, please. I have to go. I don’t know if Aya will stay alive otherwise… she’s the only family I have left, Sou-chan…”

Sougo pauses,  his expression indicating that he’s heavily conflicted. He bites onto his lip, giving Tamaki’s plea immense thought. Finally, he sighs and redirects his eyes at Tamaki. He pointedly stares into his eyes. “You can go. But… please, come back safe. Whatever you do… because I have no true family left, you and Aya-chan became family to me. So you two are more important to me than anyone else.”

Tamaki’s eyes light up with all his gratitude, and he pulls Sougo into a sudden embrace. “Sou-chan, thank you. You’re family too. So I wanna protect you and Aya. I’ll definitely come back.”

“So that’s settled.” Yamato remarks, interrupting the moment. Tamaki immediately releases Sougo, adjusting his clothes as his eyes wander over to Aya’s resting figure again. _Aya… hold on! I will save you!_

“Yeah. So you said the mansion is deep in those woods?”

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty easy to find. You’ll know when you see it, Tama.” Yamato nods, stepping forward to pat him on the shoulder lightly. “Be as fast as possible. I’ll do my part too in helping her stay alive.”

“What does the plant look like?”

“It looks like a clover, but also not quite. It’s also has quite the odor. I think you’ll know when you see it, Tama.”

Tamaki nods his affirmation, and looks over all around the room for one last time. “I’m going right now.”

“Be careful, Tamaki-kun” is the last words he hears as he rushes out of the room.

* * *

Running through the town proved to be some of a struggle, Tamaki weaving through the streets as evasively as he could to prevent worried outsiders from stopping him in his tracks. They weren’t particularly close to their neighbors, only on hospitable terms with them enough to stay in the town. This of course is a result of Sougo’s attempts to keep them hidden from any pursuers (Tamaki suspects that his father wouldn’t even bother coming after him and Aya, but it seems like Sougo has different circumstances of his own), and Tamaki doesn’t mind the lack of attention. It came in handy, especially in times like this.

The sight of the looming trees emanating a dark aura notifies Tamaki of his arrival at the forest. Despite standing tall earlier, he feels as if he’s shrunk in presence of the towering overgrowth of the trees. Rarely anyone frequented the forest, not even for firewood, instead relying on lumber from trees on the other side of town. It came to be due to the countless rumors of magic at work in the forest, barring others from desiring to visit the forest. Some brave souls from the town are said to have come in the forest on their own terms for business, but have never returned-- thus spurring countless gossip around this phenomenon.

It’s actually pretty recent, too-- now he remembers Sougo telling him and Aya of what he’s heard from others regarding the forest. In fact, it’s one of the first things they were told when they first arrived in the village. The bakery he frequented, in fact, was especially adamant of them never approaching the place. Aya suspected something amiss with the couple’s insistence, but Tamaki quickly perished the thought at the time.

Well, he’s going to find out, isn’t he? Tamaki takes a deep breath, and hesitantly steps into the woods. He squeezes onto the pouch he brought with him for the herb collection, but oddly enough finds some comfort in feeling the sturdy cloth against his hand.

Leaves crunch beneath his shoes, adding to the overwall creepy atmosphere Tamaki gleans from the forest, all with clutching the empty pouch. Somehow he’s supposed to know the path, but maybe something will lend itself to his advantage.

Even though he thinks he’s wandering aimlessly, his eyes settle on a distant glow. He raises an eyebrow, and unconsciously his feet begin to guide him in that direction. The light entices him, and Tamaki wonders if he’s like a bug attracted to a flame or something-- isn’t this bad? In fairy tales, it’s like this sort of temptation that ensnares the protagonist in a trap.

It’s different for him, though. For one thing, Tamaki has a duty. Aya’s life is in danger.

Renewed in his motivation, Tamaki internally pumps a fist in rally as he firmly continues to follow the direction of the glow. That light has the way to save his sister.

He’ll be damned if he doesn’t come back alive. He’ll prove the townspeople wrong.

He breaks into a sprint, shrugging off the uncomfortable sensation gnawing at his stomach-- the rational side of him that tells him to fear. It’s not like he ever thought about what he did carefully, anyways.

Logic cast away and instead transformed into bravado, Tamaki runs through the forest ground, ignoring all threats of wild animals or twiggly branches scattered about to trip him.

Soon enough, the sound of leaves crushing is replaced with the pounding of his feet against plain ground. He looks ahead to finally meet with the source of a glow-- a humongous manor in still prime condition courtesy of the various gardens adorning both sides of the building. Tamaki sucks in a breath, almost rendered speechless in awe as he beholds the mansion in all its splendor.

He can’t just ask nicely for permission to harvest the herb, so Tamaki quickly prays that no one is there to watch him as he takes to the wall. Hopefully he doesn’t stand out too badly-- well, with all its glowing, the mansion is awfully quiet. All the noises he can hear are reminiscent of forest animals, nothing more, nothing less.

Finally he reaches the garden filled with a bunch of leaves. He squints at them all, noting them in all their variety-- some shaped like leaves, and others taking on more unique shapes. Now, which one is the right one..? Tamaki steps closer to the plants, inhaling deeply as soon as he crept upon them. His eyes wander over the entire patch, eventually stopping and fixating on a group of them that resemble the shape Yamato mentioned earlier. He gasps as soon as he realizes this, and stretches out his arm to grab them.

“What are you doing here?” A voice interrupts him, notably akin to liquid gold. It’s way more sultry than he expected, and all those stories Sougo told him about the horrors of temptation pop in his head. He shivers as he thinks about it, and withdraws his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yamato: yes i am a doctor. call me yamato nikaido phd  
> tamaki: what does the phd stand for  
> yamato: pretty handsome dude
> 
> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea) for updates and general crying over i7.


	3. ensnared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

Slowly, he turns around to properly look at the owner of the voice.

 _Whoa, sexy,_ Tamaki thinks immediately as he looks at the man in front of him. In fact, his body is encased in that same distinct glow he followed earlier.  He can’t help but stare at him, and honestly his high specs makes Tamaki clench his fists in envy. His muscles are something to admire, really, and all that he’s reminded of is that annoying guy who likes to hit on Sougo. Another one of those types? Sougo definitely can’t come here, he’s like a magnet for troublesome erotic dudes. (Then again, it seems to have been his type so far.)

Shockingly enough, the man’s prior confused expression changes into a softer smile. It’s welcoming, and doesn’t seem to speak of any bad intentions. To think that this sort of guy is _friendly_ \-- well, he could be faking it. Tamaki decides to keep his guard up. “I need to save my sister. There’s this herb you have growing here that only grows here, and it’s the only way to save her! I’ll just take some and leave!”

If he’s as nice as his smile suggests, then he’ll hopefully allow Tamaki to do as he pleases.

The stranger’s eyes, while Tamaki has neglected to notice it earlier, remarkably stand out and even seem to pierce through his being. Tamaki swallows a gulp at this anxiously, but they soon begin to emit a more comforting feel. He almost starts to relax at the softening of the other’s features, but he firmly tells himself that he’s just trying to get him lower his guard. He’s not truly safe until he lets him do whatever and just leave him alone!

“Sure, go ahead.” He finally replies. “Honestly, you can take anything you want!”

Tamaki blinks, taken aback by the unexpected approval. He points at himself, and shoots him a questioning look. “Y...You sure? You’re not going to tell me that I’m stealing and kick me out or anything?”

“Not at all! I’m actually glad that they’re being put to use!” He grins, but quickly changes to a more sheepish smile. “I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ryunosuke Tsunashi, I’m the lord of this manor.”

“Lord? Uh, I’m Tamaki Yotsuba. Thanks for letting me use your stuff...” He mumbles quickly in response, remembering just barely to act a little more proper. Sougo isn’t here to yell at him for being careless, but he’s honestly still a little wary. He’s more friendly than he looks, but he’s still a noble. He then turns around from him, and returns to his harvesting of the herbs. He opens up his pouch, and fills it amply. He nods in satisfaction with his work, and pulls the strings on the sack to close it up. He looks around the plot, wondering if there’s anything else he should take since he went through the trouble of going here.

A splotch of purple attracts his eyes from the other side of the plot. Tilting his head in confusion, he points at the plant, turning to look at the man. “What plant is this? It seems familiar.”

“I think it’s lavender. I heard it’s very helpful for relieving stress and also used to help induce sleep?” Ryunosuke supplies albeit hesitantly, but brightens up when Tamaki nods thoughtfully.

“I’ll take some of that too, then. I think Sou-chan will need some.” He concludes, walking over to pull the lavender plants out of the ground. He opens his pouch again, and then squeeze in the harvested lavender as well as he can. Tamaki considers it to be considerably shoved in enough, and then pulls the strings again to seal it.

“Sou-chan..?” The name slides off his tongue so well. Yeah, Sou-chan definitely can’t meet him if he’s bad news. But he seems pretty nice… and there’s nothing bad about him, just the fact that he seems super erotic. Tamaki doesn’t find himself gravely affected by it, though.

“Sou-chan is someone I live with. He gets worried so much, so I think it’d help him relax a little.” Tamaki explains, tying the pouch to his belt tightly. Now, he should go ahead and go home.

His stomach grumbles, signalling otherwise.

“Are you hungry? I’ll be having dinner soon, so if you’d like…” Ryunosuke speaks up hesitantly.

Tamaki’s eyes sparkle at the offer, and he bounces over excitedly. He doesn’t care about the fact his drool is evident, as long as he’s getting free food! What a deal! “I can stay? Seriously? You’re the best!”

The lord laughs at Tamaki’s enthusiasm, nodding his head as he leads Tamaki inside the estate. The two of them both take off their shoes by the doorway, especially since Tamaki’s shoes are really dirty from the trip.

As soon as the two of them enter, a clock with a cute face painted on makes its way toward them, trailed by a candle. Tamaki’s eyes widen at the moving objects, suspecting that magic may have a play in this. No one in the village possessed any particularly incredible magic, so this is a first for him. In fact, the only magicians he's ever met could only do street tricks to impress children. He crouches down to greet these moving objects, and stares at them. “They move? You must be really good at magic.”

“N-No, that’s…” Ryunosuke begins, but is quickly cut off by the clock opening its mouth to speak.

“It’s part of the curse. Boy, do you know where you are?” The clock shakes its head, “even though we took the trouble to spread those bad rumors… Ryuu, are you sure about this kid? You need to make him leave as soon as possible before he gets affected by the curse.”

Ryuu seems to visibly tense up at the clock’s words, flashing an apologetic look at Tamaki before also crouching down to face the clock better. “I’m sorry, Tenn, he’s hungry.”

“Uh.. why are they able to talk too?” Tamaki interrupts, taking to poking the supposed clock with a finger. “Tenten, does this hurt?”

“Tenten..?” Somehow the clock gives off the impression that he’s wrinkling his nose. “And of course it does. Stop that.”

Tamaki frowns, “that’s too bad. You look so cute too.” He listens, however, and pulls away his hand. The candle snickers at the whole situation.

“Quit it, Gaku. Shouldn’t you be helping with dinner?” Tenn turns around, narrowing his gaze at the candle behind him. Honestly, Tamaki can only find humor in seeing that cute face contort so. He wants to play with all these objects too, seems fun.

“Izumi-ani kicked me out to check out the new guest. Is there a problem, Tenn?” Gaku responds straight back-- and honestly, his voice is just as erotic as Ryunosuke’s. But it has less effect since he’s not the glowing one. Whatever that means. What’s the curse, anyways? No one seems to actually know what it is, for all he knows it has to do with keeping people trapped here. But how? It’s not like people turn into these household objects or something, right?

… Right?

* * *

Tamaki is situated at the dining table, which is surprisingly sparse for a nobleman's dining room. Good. It seems like Ryunosuke is more humble than he thought-- in fact, even less proper about things than Sougo is. Instead of standing by the doorway, they were invited to go ahead to sit at the table and they’ll discuss over dinner.

However, Ryunosuke quickly excused himself to the kitchen as well. What kind of noble man cooks for himself? Shouldn’t he have servants or something?

His questions are answered as soon as a pocket watch plops straight in front of him. “Hi! What’s your name? I’m Riku, and I’m Tenn-nii’s younger twin!”

Tamaki breaks out into a small smile. “Tenten’s little brother, huh? Rikkun, I’m Tamaki Yotsuba.” He holds out a hand, and Riku fits right in the palm of his hand. It’s super cute! He almost wants to take Riku home. Talking objects are really nice, maybe he’ll try to learn some magic so he can do stuff like this.

Both a tea kettle and a teacup jump up on the table, stirring Tamaki slightly out of surprise. He blinks, still holding tightly onto the pocket watch nonetheless. They also had those cutesy faces, but the teacup seems to be particularly angry.

“Nanase-san, don’t suddenly bother the guest!” The teacup scolds as soon as he approaches. The voice was masculine, so it’s probably a dude… maybe. He seems bothersome and uptight, maybe even more than Tenn.

“Iori, I’m not doing anything wrong! Argh, you’re being ridiculous!” Riku retorts back, and begins to struggle in Tamaki’s hand. Puzzled by his sudden movement, Tamaki loosens his grip on Riku and lets him out. Riku jumps off his palm, and shoots a glare at Iori. He then looks up at Tamaki, “well, bye for now! I’m going to help Tenn-nii.” Before Tamaki has a chance to respond, the pocket watch eagerly bounces away.

Tamaki swears he can hear someone saying ‘cute’, but it’s quickly waved away by a cough. Instead, another voice speaks up.

“Riku-- well, Iori, it’s fine. I think we’re all curious to see who Tsunashi-san let in!” The kettle chides him gently, but quickly rotates himself to face Tamaki. “I’m Mitsuki Izumi, and this is my younger brother Iori.”

Tamaki bobs his head slowly, formulating new nicknames in his head to help him remember them better. So Mitsuki can be Mikki, and Iori will just be Iorin… perfect! Satisfied with his new name assignments, he beams. “Brothers, huh… Mikki and Iorin! Okay! I’m Tamaki Yotsuba.”

“Mikki?”

“Iorin!?”

The two exclaim simultaneously, peering at him with wide eyes (well, as wide as their cartoonish faces will allow them).

Tamaki grins at their apparent astonishment, nudging at the teacup lightly with a curled up finger. Iori rattles at him furiously in response, but it doesn’t do anything beside amuse him further. Even Mitsuki is chuckling at the display.

“I haven’t seen him that flustered in a while, Tamaki.” Mitsuki pipes in, “it might be nice to have you around.”

“Nii-san,” Iori cuts in sharply, pressing against Tamaki’s finger to get him to stop playing with him. “Yotsuba-san can’t stay here. He needs to go back fast, or he’ll be stuck here forever. After dinner, he has to leave.”

“... can’t you explain the curse already?” Tamaki grumbles, moving his hand away from Iori. He slumps over in his seat, using his arms as a cushion for his chin. “I gotta save my sister, so I’m not staying here for long. But… have you guys always been living here?”

The two exchange glances, Iori seeming to take a deep breath before he shakes his head. “No. Actually, Nii-san and I are the children of the couple running the bakery back in the village… do you know of it?”

“Eh? Fonte Chocolat?” He asks, eyes widening, “I go there all the time. Oh, now I think of it. That couple always tells Aya and I to not go into this forest.”

“And then you go into the forest.” Iori huffs. “Yotsuba-san, you’re not good at following directions, are you?”

Tamaki pouts, “I have a reason. I didn’t come here for nothing, Iorin! Stupid, can’t you figure that out?”

Mitsuki comes in between the two with an annoyed expression. “Iori, Tamaki… calm down!” The two both go silent, both eyes turning to Mitsuki. The teapot then turns to face Tamaki. “Hey. Explain why you’re here, Tamaki.”

“There’s a plant thing that grows here for the medicine for my sister. She’s sick right now, and she can wait a while… also I’m hungry, so… that Ryunosuke guy offered me dinner, so obviously I’m going to take it.” Tamaki describes his thought process as accurately as he can, earning the gradual exasperation from Iori.

“You should’ve told us earlier, Yotsuba-san.” Iori sighs, “it can’t be helped. Enjoy your dinner, and… Tsunashi-san is very kind. But don’t grow too fond of him.”

“Why?” Tamaki thinks back to his earlier thoughts about the curse, and now it becomes more apparent that the curse causing them to change into objects is what’s happening here. Yeah, he doesn’t think humans can give birth to household objects. “... does it have something to do with the curse?”

“Yeah, actually…” Ryunosuke confirms, coming into the room with two bowls of noodles. “Sorry to interrupt your conversation, Tamaki-kun. You’re fine with pasta, right?” Tamaki cranes his neck slightly, noting that Tenn, Riku, and Gaku followed behind him. Except they’re pretty small so it looks like ducklings following the mother more than anything else.

Tamaki licks his lips, outstretching his hand for the bowl. Ryuu passes it to him, and he graciously sets it on the table right in front of Iori the teacup. “Yeah! Thanks for the food~” He sings as he grabs the fork stuck in the bowl and starts stuffing his mouth with pasta. This is a definite improvement over Sougo’s cooking, it’s not like he’s bad, but he just ends up completely wrecking all the food with various spices. Aya seems to handle it somehow, while Tamaki stubbornly snuck back food from town to eat. Maybe Aya got sick because of the spicy food? He shakes off the thought, and instead focuses on eating.

Ryunosuke laughs, taking a seat of his own diagonal to him, and  begins to eat his food as well. “Well, we’ve been trying to figure out the curse…”

“Ryuu, I’ll explain. You can eat.” Tenn lands onto the table, taking it as his own stage. He hops a little closer to Tamaki, before stopping and looking at him with a solemn expression. “You know of beauty and the beast, right?”

“Yeah, it’s a fairy tale. Why?”

“So this curse is near identical. But we aren’t all servants of Ryuu, in fact only a handful of us are. Also, he was cursed for wanting to break off an engagement. Ryuu is no way as cruel…”

“If he’s the beast, then why isn’t he a furry?” That’s the point, right? To make sure no one falls in love with him?

“Shut up and listen, Yotsuba Tamaki.” Tenn threatens, but Tamaki honestly can’t find himself feeling seriously intimidated by a _clock_. Tamaki snorts at Tenn’s attempt of showing his anger, but clamps his mouth shut obediently.

“Ryuu’s curse… the first thing you thought was that he’s erotic, right?” Tamaki nods dumbly, uncertain of what Tenn was trying to really refer to. However, he did think that when he first saw him. Not like he is interested or anything. “He’s a beast in terms of being… erotic.”

“Sounds like one of Sou-chan’s novels.” Tamaki mutters, spearing a piece of meat with his fork. He waves it around in the air for a bit before shoving it in his mouth and chewing. “If he came, I think he’d find Ryuu-aniki sexy enough to help him break the curse. Maybe? I know he swings that way.”

“T-Tamaki-kun…” Ryuu protests weakly, putting his fork down as his cheeks flare up. “T-The curse won’t be broken unless he loves me… for me…”

“What are you, a heroine?” Gaku teases with a snigger. Ryuu bristles up, taking offense and shoots the best glare he could muster at Gaku. Tamaki notes the other’s expression, and he notices that his narrowed eyes resembles that of an animal. A beast, indeed. Oh no, maybe it’ll be dangerous if he let Sou-chan come here. But this guy is pretty nice… so it might not be too bad.

“Well, then I’ll just stay here so he’ll have to come here.” Tamaki offers decisively with a small smile on his face. “So when Sou-chan gets here, I’ll just go back without him and save Aya! Sounds good, right?”

“That’s assuming you won’t get stuck here.” Tenn shoots him down quickly. “The other part of the curse has to do why we’re all like this. You don’t think we were born as objects, right?”

“No, I’m not stupid.” Tamaki scowls, “it’s because of the curse too, right? What makes that happen?”

“If you get attached to Ryuu in a platonic way. And honestly, if you don’t leave soon, then you’re going to be susceptible. You’re already calling him as if he’s your older brother, Yotsuba Tamaki.” Tenn sighs, “we were all already good friends with Ryuu, so it’s only natural we got cursed too.”

“Even Mikki and Iorin?” Tamaki questions, glancing around to see if the brothers are still there. It seems like they have left without him knowing. _Lame_ , Tamaki muses, but decides to tune back into Tenn’s explanation.

Tenn sighs, “yes. Those two always delivered the bread to the estate, and so Ryuu became friends with them. We haven’t had a case of someone completely new is turned into an object, but…”

“Shouldn’t it be fine? As long as Ryuu-aniki doesn’t think of me as a friend.” Tamaki declares, and then returns to eating his food-- effectively ending the conversation right there. Tenn shoots him a nasty look, but simply turns around.

“So be it. Don’t get carried away, Yotsuba Tamaki, because you know what will happen if you stay here for too long.” Tenn groans, “I really have no way of helping you if you turn out like us. Izumi Iori should show you to your room later. Farewell for now, Ryuu, Yotsuba Tamaki.”

“H-Huh? Bye Tenn!” Ryuu exclaims, waving to the hopping clock. He and Tamaki also exchange farewells to Riku who follows his brother suit. Gaku stays behind, and approaches Ryuu slowly. “What’s up, Gaku?”

Gaku shrugs (in a way a candle can somehow do) as he smirks. “I think Yotsuba’s plan might be a good idea. If you can lead this ‘Sou-chan’ here and break the curse, then it’ll really benefit all of us. And maybe you’ll be happy. Who knows?”

Tamaki nods, giving Gaku a thumbs up. “Gakkun’s smart. Like, there was this glowy thingy around here, which led me to here. I think Sou-chan might get attracted to it. So it works, doesn’t it?”

Ryuu raises an eyebrow, not thoroughly convinced that Tamaki’s plan will work. He sighs, shakes his head, but eventually his lips form a weak smile. “Might as well… I don’t know if he’ll love me, but… also, Tamaki-kun. Be careful too! I’ll try not to hang out with you!”

“But it’s going to be boring otherwise.” Tamaki frowns, “I know Aya will be fine, but I can’t stop worrying about her.”

“She’ll be fine, especially since she has her older brother risking his freedom to save her.” Ryuu grins, unconsciously ruffling Tamaki’s hair with a gloved hand. Tamaki opens his mouth to protest, but he pauses instead. Seeing how happy he looks in the moment, Tamaki isn’t sure if he should even say anything.

However, Ryuu quickly realizes his mistake and freezes. He slowly draws back his hand, and looks away. “... sorry, Tamaki-kun. That would be dangerous, right? You just remind me a lot of my brothers.”

Tamaki’s eyes widen at the mention of brothers. He hasn’t heard anything about that, so he assumed-- well… that explains  why Ryuu seems to be so good at taking care of others. “And they’re not here? Why did they leave you?”

Ryuu bites his lip, and stirs up from his seat. He glances over to grab Tamaki’s empty bowl, and picking up his own bowl with his other hand. “They left before the curse took effect. It’s getting late, Tamaki-kun. I’ll tell Iori-kun to take you to your room.”  Before Tamaki can object to the other, Ryuu swiftly exits the dining room into the kitchen.

Tamaki’s eyes follow Ryuu’s disappearing figure with a slight frown, and he quickly glances back at his own hands. He’s really a cool guy-- admirable, and probably a better older brother than he’ll ever be. Despite his initial jealousy, he sort of--

“Yotsuba-san.” The teacup hops back in front of him on the table, his expression irritable as he stares down at Tamaki. “Let’s get this over with, okay?”  
“Sorry, Iorin. I guess I’m tired.” He lies, although it’s not that far from the truth. He’s just in the thinking mood, after all. “Let’s go, let’s go~ I hope it’s a big room.”

Iori chuckles, “all the rooms in here are pretty big.”

“That’s because you’re a teacup!”

“Yotsuba-san, you don’t have to point out the obvious. Just stay quiet and follow me!” His voice raises, indicating his embarrassment.

Tamaki snickers at Iori’s reaction, but obeys nonetheless by getting up from his seat. Slowly Iori makes his way down from the table, and honestly… Tamaki doesn’t see the point of going through all that trouble. He could just ask for a lift back. Unless they’re invincible or something as objects and never break.

Sounds a little nice, actually.

* * *

“This will be where you’re staying.” Iori explains, nudging open the guest bedroom door. Tamaki notices that Iori is having difficulties in his small size, so he simply opens it up himself with the door knob.

Tamaki feels like Iori’s glaring at him at this point, though…

“Thanks, Iorin. Night.” He walks into the room, nodding at the splendor of it. Also the bed looks pretty awesome to stay in-- arguably the nicest bed he’s slept in ever. Their house back in the village isn’t too shabby, but it definitely pales in comparison to this luxury.  

“... night.” Iori mumbles back, his voice growing more distant as he continues. “I’ll come wake you up in the morning.”

_Eugh. Just like Sou-chan._

Tamaki takes one last long look at his surroundings, and lets out a long groan. He's more exhausted than he thought after all of that happened. He turns off the lights, and lets the glow of the moonlight filtering through the widow illuminate the room.

Too tired to even think about bathing, he takes off his belt with the pouch and places it on a nearby table. He stretches out his limbs, and climbs onto the bed. It’s really comfy, it almost feels like he’ll fall asleep right there.

He closes his eyes, settling himself deeper underneath the covers. His thoughts wander back to what he was thinking before at the dinner table. Honestly, Ryuu is one of the most honest guys he’s ever met. He’s really cool and nice, and… he cares a whole lot.

Tamaki wants to help him with his curse, and even stay friends with him. “I want Ryuu-aniki to be happy, too…” He earnestly wishes, and the exhaustion of the day and all the information he learned sinking in.

He falls into a deep slumber, unsuspecting of the sparkly glittery glow encasing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will finally be from sougo's pov.
> 
> as always, feel free to follow my [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea) for updates!


	4. his circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's what you've been waiting for...

“It’s been a couple of days since Tama left.” Yamato remarks, staring at the newspaper as he takes a sip of his coffee.

Sougo frowns, eyes downcast as he glances at his own cup of coffee. He sighs, and then averts his gaze to the doctor. His demeanor seems more shady, but he’s actually a dependable person and an accomplished doctor. Although, he isn’t really sure why he’s a doctor considering it doesn’t really fit his personality. Then again, Sougo’s current occupation as a performer in the tavern doesn’t suit him all too well at all, either. He makes enough to scrape by and support the three of them, and Tamaki earnestly helped out by taking on side jobs around the village to earn his own money for his sweets.

“I hope he’s okay.” Sougo murmurs, glancing at the newspaper too. “Yamato-san--”

“Hey. Don’t think about getting another job. You work enough.” Yamato cuts him off immediately, “I can’t be the one taking care of Aya all day.”

“... right, you have other patients too. I’ll definitely pay extra for troubling you like this, Yamato-san.” He sighs, wondering if it’s really okay for him to leave her alone just for work. Especially with Tamaki gone, Sougo doesn’t know if they can handle him skipping out on work in the day. Compared to his nightly gigs as a musician, his day job of being a clerk at the general store is more respectable, but doesn’t pay as much. Either way, he needs both jobs to make ends meet. Maybe he should have someone watch after her?

“Don’t worry about it. There’s other doctors in town besides me. You’re my friend, Sou. And the whole village is worried about you guys.” Yamato sighs, “hey. Maybe you should consider getting Tama. If he’s cursed, then… he’ll never come back.”

No way. Gone forever? Even after he warned him? Tears well up in his eyes, but he furiously tries to blink them away. The thought of his family being taken away again… he can’t stand it. He was powerless last time, but this time he knows he has a chance to save him.

His decision made, he opens his mouth to speak.  “I’ll have to talk to Mido-san and then to general store manager, then.”

“I’ll watch after Aya. Just go tell the both of them, and they’ll probably understand.” Yamato advises, offering Sougo a reassuring smile. “Don’t sweat it, Sou. It’ll work out. Everyone knows how hard you work.”

Sougo laughs quietly, taking a generous mouthful of the beverage he prepared himself. “Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“She’s getting better. Her symptoms aren’t as severe as they used to be.”

Sougo only wordlessly bobs his head in response. He knows. Aya is recovering from some of her symptoms, but is it really enough?

* * *

Quite quickly, his boss agreed to Sougo taking a break from work to search for Tamaki. He’s a generous elderly man, and Sougo can’t help but feel guilty for leaving him alone to manage the store all by himself. He supposes there’s others willing to work there, so there’s no problem.

The real problem though, is the tavern owner.

He’s around Sougo’s age, and is honestly one of the worst people he’s had the displeasure of knowing.

Sougo collects himself by taking a deep breath as soon as he stops at the tavern’s entrance. Business is typically slower during the day, but it usually begins to pick up at night.

After taking a minute to mentally prepare himself and easing his own qualms, he pushes the door open, and is quickly greeted with the smell of alcohol and food. At the bar stands the owner of the place, and he seems preoccupied with polishing glasses. Sougo wonders if he should back out of this after all, and maybe he’ll just not show up and deal with the repercussions at a later date.

Before he can make the split second decision of leaving, his boss looks up to see him and flashes a smile. It’s a bit on the sleazy side, and somehow he only feels a chill go down his spine. But he could just be too judgemental, but Sougo feels that in itself is justified. His impression of his boss grows worse by each visit.

“Oh, Sougo. Did you miss me that much that you had to come here during the day?” Torao greets with a smirk, putting aside both the mug and the cloth he was polishing it with. He abandons his post at the bar to come face-to-face with Sougo.

“Exactly the opposite, Mido-san.” Sougo retorts quickly, swatting at Torao’s hovering hand. Yeah, where does he think he’s going with that? He’s tempted to rebuke him even more, but this is his boss-- and he’s already risking it by being so obstinate in response toward his unwarranted advances. “I’m here to inform you of my absence. I won’t be able to perform for a while since Aya has gotten sick. Tamaki hasn’t returned, so…”

Torao hums, “well, it looks like your performance has been off a bit lately. Didn’t that kid go to the Tsunashi manor? You’ve heard all about it, haven’t you? You can say he’s as good as gone.” He finishes dismissively, instead glancing at Sougo with narrowed eyes. “Y’know, you can just rely on me instead. You don’t have to work so hard every night… I’ll even try to get that kid back for you and help you pay for the doctor.”

The first thing that registers in Sougo’s mind is the fact that his condition declining was noticeable. He sighs at Torao’s second suggestion. “I can’t do that in good conscience. I can’t give anything in return…”

The other shrugs, and licks his lips. He raises a hand to lightly touch Sougo’s chin, turning it upward to look at him directly. “You can just give yourself to me, Sougo.”

Sougo abruptly shoves the other man off him, his cheeks burning with both shame and anger. He shoots a glare at him, hoping that he’s able to successfully communicate the now unbridled rage and distaste he felt. Is he a child? He’s just being treated at this guy’s toy. Even though he enjoys performing and sharing his music with everyone else… if he’s just some entertainment tool to this guy, then he’d rather not sing or dance for him ever again. Not like he’s ever done so-- he always performed for himself… and the family he’s sworn to protect. “Am I just a toy for you, Mido-san?”

“What? Sougo, I--”

Thanks to there being no one else in the tavern right now, Sougo’s moment of bravado doesn’t falter as he had anticipated. Before Torao can respond to his question, he turns around and storms out of the tavern. He slams the door behind him, and sprints as far as he can, ignoring the questioning glances sent his way.

His job is practically gone now. That’s not too big of a deal. After Aya gets better, it might be time to hit the road again. As much as he’d love to give those two siblings a stable environment to thrive, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to keep this a secret from them any longer.

 _I’m at my limit._ Sougo thinks, pathetically. He’s not even able to calm down his emotions-- now he’s acting more rash than he ever imagined. Knowing he’s still attracting attention from bystanders, he increases his speed and swerves into a path he knows would get him out of the hub of the village. Right, might as well go get Tamaki now.

His breaths grow heavy as he finally reaches the forest entrance. _Perfect timing_. He comes to a gentle stop, taking a moment to regain his composure. Seeing that he’s far from any pursuer, Sougo takes one last swallow of air before taking the path into the supposed forest of no return.

Soon as he gets far enough to where he can’t see the exit behind him, Sougo starts to notice a sort of golden glow through the fog. Somehow, he feels like it has to be where he’s to go. That light is only a lure for a trap.

That’s where Tamaki got stuck.

Renewing his resolve, he shifts his goal to be the light.

* * *

An odd sensation bubbles up in his stomach as soon as he approaches the main source of the glow. So it’s this mansion. He rubs slightly at his stomach, hoping it would somehow sooth the pain. He should’ve remembered to take something for his stomach.

Sougo decides to simply ignore the gnawing pain, and opts to keep moving. He doesn’t know how else he’s supposed to go about doing this, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll die immediately if he’s just to go through the front door. If there’s a chance the mentioned beast here is truly dangerous, then Sougo knows a thing or two about making anything into a weapon. He wishes he brought his sword, but he had planned to go back first before leaving-- well, it can’t be helped now. He has already come this far.

Hesitantly, he reaches for the door knocker, and lifts the handle before letting it go. Uncertain if that is sufficient, he repeats the action.

After a minute of mentally preparing for what he’s going to say, the door opens to reveal a kind looking man. All of Sougo’s thoughts disperse, and all he can focus on is how… _perfect_ the man is.

His hair is swept and styled just right, and all Sougo wants to do is run his hands through that hair, pulling him down and making that bewildered expression make all sorts of different faces. His eyes are… utterly mesmerizing. He hates how cliché this is slowly getting, since he feels like he’s getting sucked into them the longer he stares.

His body is perfectly muscular, too… while he would think he would feel envy, he suspects he’s experiencing another type of sin instead.

Lust.

Something about him is drawing Sougo closer to him, and wordlessly he steps closer to the man. He sniffs the air around him, and notices that even his aroma is something he wants to keep smelling forever. He doesn’t quite know how to articulate how he smells, but Sougo knows that he’s addicted to it.

How embarrassing. He’s feeling all this desire for a man he’s _just_ met when he should be thinking about other things, and he has absolutely no reason to be like this.

It’s almost as if the man was a drug of his own. Sougo’s heart is fluttering more than ever, and he notices his breathing speed up. And not to mention that he’s beginning to feel quite lightheaded.

Sougo swears he finally notices the visible aura around the man, but fails to notice anything else as his body gives out completely instead.

* * *

Sougo opens his eyes to a concerned pair of eyes looking over him. He scrambles, trying to sit up in his bed. He thinks to leave the room immediately and start looking for Tamaki, but he feels a weight bounce up and down on his stomach. This prevents him from moving, and Sougo frowns as he looks at the culprit. It’s… a jumping bowl. What.

He’s probably dreaming, isn’t he?

“Sou-chan!”

What.

“Sou-chan, stay here. You should rest.” His voice clearly resembles Tamaki, but it’s coming from… a bowl. He blinks several more times, hoping that he’s dreaming and Tamaki is simply just jabbing him with the bottom of a porcelain bowl. “You’re gonna die if you keep that up!”

“Tamaki-kun, you’re… not a bowl, are you?” Sougo asks hesitantly, “I’m not hallucinating, right?”

“You’re not.” Tamaki turns around, hopping up up the bed so he’s face-to-face with Sougo. Sougo’s eyes widen, looking bewildered as he spots the cute, yet pouty face on the bowl. Oh. He closes his eyes again, not quite comprehending that this is even real. “I’m a bowl. I got cur--”

The door opens, cutting off their conversation. Sougo turns slightly in his bed to get a better look at who came in.

Oh no, so he was real too? Sougo tries to restrain his screams of protests, and decides to sink back into his bed instead. He’ll fall asleep again and he’ll find himself back at home. Yes.

“Are you really okay?” He walks over to attend to him directly, and all Sougo wants to do is dive back into the covers and forget that this is all happening. “... Oh! I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Ryunosuke Tsunashi.”

“S-Sougo Osaka…” Sougo mumbles back in response, grabbing the blankets to cover his face, but Tamaki decides to jump on his hands instead. He swallows the profanity he was tempted to spit out, and simply stops any further attempts. He didn’t come here to run away from his reality, so now he has to get Tamaki out of here… if only he wasn’t a bowl right now.

Ryuu hums in response, and squats down so he’s level with Sougo. Sougo glances at him, puzzled with his intentions, and freezes. Ryuu continues on, and sweeps Sougo’s bangs up with his hand. He then presses his forehead against Sougo’s, and pulls away. “You don’t have a fever, do you? You feel pretty hot.”

 _It’s because of you_ , Sougo supplies internally with a scoff, and he turns around to hide his burning face. “I’ll be fine, Tsunashi-san. Thank you for letting me stay here. But… can’t you free Tamaki-kun from the curse? I’ll stay here instead, so…”

“Sou-chan, I can’t leave.” Tamaki speaks up, “I got cursed.”

He turns to the speaking bowl, and dips his head as some sort of atonement. “I see… so that’s the case. I’m sorry, Tamaki-kun. Is there a way to break the curse?”

“You have to break Ryuu-aniki’s curse.” Tamaki explains, “that won’t be too hard, right? Don’t you think he’s--”

“Sougo-kun, I’ll have someone bring some food for you! Take it easy!” Ryuu interrupts Tamaki quickly, attracting Sougo’s attention to him. He flashes a hesitant smile at him, and takes out something from his pocket. “Ah, before that. Give me your hand.”

Sougo blinks, but obeys nonetheless by holding up an empty hand.

Ryuu gently places the object onto it, “just ask Riku-kun if you need any help, okay?” Before Sougo can respond, he stands up and leaves the room as quickly as he came.

Sougo dumbfoundedly stares at the pocket watch Ryuu gave him. “Riku-kun?”

As soon as he says the watch’s name, its eyes flutter open and greets Sougo with a smile. “Oh, so you’re Sougo-san! I’m Riku Nanase! I’ll help you out with anything, Sougo-san.”

“Rikkun is cute, isn’t he.” Tamaki chimes in with a grin, “I’ll be around too, Sou-chan. But Rikkun knows more than I do so you probably should ask him.” Tamaki carefully bounces off on top of Sougo and instead makes his way to the ground. Sougo wonders what’s preventing him from breaking, but he assumes that there’s magic involved in the curse to keep those cursed safe from breaking.

There’s no point in a curse if the one cursed dies too quickly, after all.

“Tenn-nii knows the most about the curse, though! He’s researching it in the library.” Riku exclaims, and he wiggles slightly in Sougo’s hand. “Let’s go there right now!”

Sougo, uncertain if he even has the choice to deny, agrees and takes care to get out of bed on the opposite side where Tamaki took off. Tamaki hops in front of Sougo, and bounces again to get Sougo’s attention. “I know where it is-- Iorin likes hanging out there too. I’ll show you, I think Rikkun gets lost easily.”

“Not that easily, Tamaki…  you got lost plenty times, too.” Riku shoots back playfully, “well, Sougo-san. You can just keep me in your pocket. Isn’t that convenient?”

He blinks, but mutters his thanks as he gently places the pocket watch into his pocket. Does he want to rest? Whatever it is, Sougo makes a mental note to move as gently as possible so he doesn’t rustle Riku.

* * *

The library’s shelves were filled to the brim with a diverse selection of tomes and even novels for pleasure reading. Sougo’s breath hitches at the sight, assaulted with memories of his own old home-- the Osaka collection was infinitely greater than this library, but the selection available here is just as satisfactory. There’s plenty more tomes dedicated to magic, he suspects, judging from the large stack piled on a desk. Back in his home, the library was filled with more unsavory novels and books on politics and business and economics more than on magic. He knows the true reason well-- his uncle was diligent in studying the magical arts, and even shared with Sougo some of those phenomenons. What Sougo thought to be the most amazing occurrence to ever happen, his uncle merely joked that it was a simple and easy spell.

He bites on his lip, trying to steer his mind away from uselessly reminiscing on fond memories of his dead uncle, and focus on what he’s sought out to do. He has to find out more about this curse so he can break it, but Tenn doesn’t seem to be here.

Riku rustles around his pocket, alerting Sougo of his presence. He probably wants to be taken out. Albeit apprehensively, Sougo reaches into his pocket and takes out Riku.

“Tenn-nii, are you still working?” He asks anxiously immediately after Sougo pulls him out. Sensing what Riku might want him to do, Sougo gets closer to the desk, and peers around the mountain of books. There he sees Tenn poring over an open book about curses, and then quickly switching to examine another book-- which has contents of a children’s story than anything about magic. Uncertain of how a fairy tale had anything to do with it, he stays silent.

Riku jumps off the palm of his hand to come up to the clock. “Tenn-nii!” He repeats with a grimace. “Sougo-san is here, so can you tell him what you know?”

Tenn glances up from his work, and fixes his gaze onto Sougo. “Ah, Osaka Sougo… you want to know how to break the curse, right?”

Sougo nods slowly as eyes wander from the books to the talking clock. “Yes. I want to do whatever I can to help. I… never done any magic before, but my uncle was a magician. I could only hope I have the same potential for it.”

Tenn pauses, seemingly lost in thought as he tries to formulate an answer. He seems to hesitate on whether to tell the truth about the curse or not. Sougo grimaces at the reasoning he gave for Tenn’s silence-- what if he doesn’t deem Sougo worthy? But there’s no other way it’ll be broken-- it seems like it requires involvement of someone else.

Finally, Tenn breaks the silence. “You find Ryuu attractive, right?”

Sougo blinks, dumbfounded by the question. His cheeks heat up, which probably already indicates his answer. “Y-You won’t tell him, right..?”

Tamaki makes his presence known as he snorts at Sougo’s response. He soon comes up to join Tenn and Riku on the desk, using the chair as leverage to reach the top, and Sougo swears he notices some magic boosting him up. “Ryuu-aniki is definitely Sou-chan’s type. He likes older and erotic men.”

“Tamaki-kun!” Sougo exclaims loudly, but soon clears his throat and regains his composure. He tries to avoid Tenn’s knowing look and averts his gaze. “I… think he’s incredibly attractive…” He admits under his breath, but that only earns him a snort from Tenn.

“Ah, what was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

 _This guy is more cheeky than I thought he would be_ , He thinks bitterly, but begrudgingly turns back to look at Tenn. “Yes, I do… who wouldn’t, though..?”

Tenn smiles, “of course he’s attractive. That’s the effects of the curse. And I’m glad to hear you think so-- that means you’re capable of breaking it.”

“Eh?”

“Here’s all you need to do, Osaka Sougo: see Ryuu for more than his looks. That’s all you have to do.” Tenn finishes, and then glances at him dismissively. “That’s all the hints I can give you. You’re free to come to the library in the future and figure it out on your own, but for now I’m researching.

Riku, already aware of Tenn’s intentions, hops away from his brother and launches himself into Sougo’s palm again. “Come on, Sougo-san! Let’s meet some of the others. Tamaki, you coming?”

Sougo nods dumbly at the sudden shift, relieved that he was able to catch Riku properly despite his lack of warning. He looks over to Tamaki as soon as Riku mentions him, and notices that the boy-- rather, bowl, looks plenty satisfied with sitting there.

Tamaki blinks, but shakes himself in denial. “Nah, I’ll stay here with Tenten.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Tenn questions softly, “I’m not going to entertain you, you know.”

“I’m tired, so I was going to just sleep here.” Tamaki pauses, “no good..?”

Tenn sighs, but relents, “fine. As long as you don’t get in my way.”

Tamaki cheers, and scoots closer against one of the books Tenn was reading.

Sougo looks upon the scene fondly, secretly glad that Tamaki has managed to make a new friend. As long as that distracts him from the situation with Aya… he has to definitely break the curse as soon as possible so they can reunite. Yamato said that she’ll be able to hold on even without the cure immediately, but he can’t bear to make her suffer for this long.

Tamaki wouldn’t ever forgive him-- no, he wouldn’t forgive himself for letting that happen. If it comes to it, he’ll have to trust that Tamaki will be fine here and he can deliver the herb to the apothecary.

“Sougo-san?” Riku asks quietly. He adjusts himself in Sougo’s hand, presumably making himself more comfortable.

Sougo blinks himself out of his thoughts, and acknowledges Riku’s concern with a small smile. “Sorry, Riku-kun. I was just thinking… ah, we need to meet everyone else now, right?”

Riku hums in agreement, and starts to point to the way out of the library to elsewhere. Sougo takes one last glance back at the scene between the two other objects before following Riku’s directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "did sougo really pass out bc ryuu was too hot" yes... also bc he's overworked and stressed but Mostly because ryuu's too hot
> 
> so after this, there's only one last chapter i have written. i haven't started on chapter 5 yet bc i got distracted whoops
> 
> again, feel free to follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea) for updates! thank you for continuing to read this <3


	5. the beauty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> re:vale's horny in this fic i'm sorry

Rather than mapping out the rest of the manor as Sougo originally thought, Riku led Sougo back into his room. He looks around his room, telling himself to get used to his surroundings-- for that this will be his room for a spell (literally). And as promised, Ryunosuke had someone leave a meal for him on the nightstand.

Not like he’s gotten any hungrier, though… he decides to leave it for later. Sougo takes Riku out of his pocket. Riku beams at him knowingly, “There’s actually some more people for you to meet in here. Nagi and Momo-san stay here!”

Sougo blinks, testing the names on his tongue. Eyes gleam at him as soon as he sounds out each name, and Sougo is uncertain whether he should be shaking or not. Before he can think of what to do, a cheerful voice cuts him off.

“Sougo! Nice to finally meet you!” Sougo turns slightly, as nudged by Riku, to look upon the dresser. It wiggles slightly, as if it’s trying to wave at him. Hesitantly, Sougo waves back and mumbles a quick greeting.

“You were so cute when you were sleeping~ Ryuu seemed flustered when he carried you here!” The dresser exclaims cheerfully, but the content of his words only work to embarrass Sougo.

“OH… Mister Momo,” Sougo turns to identify the other voice as the mirror next to the dresser, “you must be careful with what you say. Sougo is absolutely flushed red…”

“Come on, Nagi. It’s fine, isn’t it~? Sougo here is our hope at breaking the curse.” The dresser apparently known as Momo chastises, “what would I do to see Yuki again~ aaah, it’s such a shame we’re in different parts of the house! I can’t even leave the room on my own! This curse sucks!”

“I am in the same position, you know… only Tsunashi-shi can move us over.” The mirror apparently known as Nagi laments with a sigh of his own, “It’s been miserable without any women in this mansion. And I haven’t seen my angel Cocona in forever! It’s SHIT!”

Sougo doesn’t quite know who Yuki or this Cocona is, but he tries to nod sympathetically nonetheless. “I… still need to figure out how to break the curse myself, but I will try my hardest.”

“You’re so earnest!” Momo praises honestly with a cartoon-like twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll leave it to you, Sougo~ we’ll be here to help out, of course! But it’s been so long since I last saw Yuki… I heard he got turned into a piano.”

“A piano..? I’d love to play it…” Sougo murmurs softly, his heart soaring at the idea of being able to touch a piano again. In his performances at the tavern, he relied solely on his lute to provide accompaniment for his songs.

“You want to play Yuki..?” Momo gasps, “Sougo, you’re so naughty! Naughty naughty naughty! Stay faithful to Ryuu, okay?”

“What…” Sougo whispers harshly, completely bewildered by his accusations that turn him red in the face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Mister Momo is joking with you, Sougo,” Nagi reassures him, but he has a wry smile of his own. “I think I have come up with a solution. Tsunashi-shi is reluctant to take over Mister Momo because no matter how strong he is, a dresser is too much for one.”

Sougo nods in affirmation, “ah, so if I help him… then we can take Momo-san there! I think that’s a wonderful idea.” He looks down at Riku, and the two exchange a look. Riku jumps off of Sougo’s hand, and exits the room, presumably to fetch Ryuu.

He fixes his gaze back onto the two objects side by side, taking the time to glance all over. Momo is a sizeable wardrobe, probably filled to the brim with clothes. He hopes, at least, since he doesn’t know if he can stand wearing the same clothes and stinking up these luxurious sheets for so long. He feels bad about having to borrow clothes from Ryuu, though…

Nagi is a full-length mirror, and honestly, it’s a bit jarring to see his reflection and _also_ Nagi’s face near the top of the mirror. He comforts himself with the fact that he’ll get used to it soon. “Oh, Sougo. I do think we are blessed with the same taste in clothes.” The mirror speaks up with an innocent smile.

“... are we?” Sougo questions, thinking that he can probably enjoy his stay here if he’s found some camaraderie in another-- even if it’s just over fashion preferences. “I haven’t had the time or money to buy new clothes, so these probably look strange… they’re just the ones I wore in home. I was always worried it might look too fancy.”

“Fancy? No, no! You dress like a fine gentleman, Sougo!” Nagi compliments him with the same wide smile, “but I’ve been told many times that I am too beautiful… but you are also beautiful, Sougo... I hope we become good friends.”

Sougo flushes slightly at being called beautiful-- honestly, that’s an adjective he hasn’t been called so genuinely before. Torao does call him that, but it has come to the point where Sougo merely brushes off his compliments as idle flattery. “Thank you… I hope we become good friends too.” Sougo replies earnestly. “.. ah, if you don’t mind. How did you meet Tsunashi-san?”

So far, he hasn’t learned much of anything about the man. All Sougo knows is that he’s (attractive) kind, caring, and _very_ warm. Somehow he’s earned Tamaki’s respect quicker than he has-- Sougo envies that a little, but he can’t blame Tamaki. Everything about him is something to admire. And that must be why so many in this mansion is cursed with him-- because they’re attracted to his warmth. If he’s this kind, then why is he stuck with this kind of curse? It’s too cruel, Sougo thinks, and now he’s all the more curious to find out more about him.

So he’s decided to start with asking everyone’s stories. Sougo looks at Nagi expectantly, awaiting his answer.

“Keep this a secret from the others, Sougo, Mister Momo.” Nagi finally begins to speak, sharing a conspiratorial wink with the two of them. “I am related to the royal family-- I will not disclose any further details on that, but I’ve come to known Tsunashi-shi.”

“The royal family, Nagi-kun..? Ah, I…” Sougo closes his mouth. Back when he was still with his family, he’s never been able to meet the royal family. Meetings with the royal family were scarce-- Sougo’s father found them dreadful for various reasons, and tried to keep interaction with them limited. Sougo was always kept busy in times and was never allowed to meet them. If he knew that he could possibly meet Nagi, then he may have not been so miserable.

But Sougo stops muling over hypotheticals, and continues to listen to Nagi’s story.

“Yes, I was affiliated with them. Tsunashi-shi is a very clumsy noble, but that’s because he’s only recently acquired the status. I’ve actually only met him a few months ago, but his words touched me deeply.” Nagi says, his smile growing warmer as he seems to become more sentimental, “so I’ve decided to look for him when I first heard of the rumors.”

“Is that so…” Sougo mumbles, “so Tsunashi-san is really amazing, isn’t he?” The fact that he’s a newer noble explains why exactly Sougo has never encountered him before in the past. Before, most interactions with other nobles were limited to those around his age and the parents of those children. He’s never been close to them, however, in fact the only one to befriend him beyond formalities was someone a little older than him, and he’s disappeared himself a bit before Sougo left his family.

“Sougo?” Momo asks, breaking Sougo out of his reverie. Sougo blinks, and mumbles a quick apology. “No worries! I was just worried.~ I guess Nagi’s story got you thinkin’ a lot, huh?”

All Sougo can muster is another dumb nod. “Yes… Momo-san, what about you?”

“Oh, I just work here~ Yuki and I were always together for work.” He frowns, “and we’re one of the only few staff who bothered to stay. I don’t get it, Ryuu’s such a great guy! He deserves better than anyone.”

“Few staff..?” Sougo begins to recall the detail of the rumors that swept through the village-- basically there’s a case of an angry fiancee. Ah. It clicks now. So this mansion was abandoned by the original Tsunashi family because of the curse… those who stayed are cursed. Sougo wonders if it’ll happen to him too. He then remembers how Tenn suggested that he’s immune to the curse and because of that, Sougo has the potential to break it.

Before Momo can answer his question, the door opens to reveal Riku with Ryuu following behind. “Sougo-kun, you said you needed something?”

“Ryuu! You’re so mean, you never visit us!” Momo complains, “and whenever I ask, you won’t carry me over to see darling…”

“That’s because you ask that everytime I come here…” Ryuu mutters in response, but shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Momo-san. I--”

“U-Um…” Sougo speaks up with a hesitant smile, “Tsunashi-san, I can help you move Momo-san.”

“Really? That’d be a big help, Sougo-kun!” Ryuu grins, eyes shining with relief. “Good news, Momo-san!”

“Sougo, you’re really an angel after all!” Momo praises, and then attempts to move a little to make it any easier for the two to carry him. “Come on now, don’t be shy!”

The two elect to ignore Momo, and set to work on surrounding him on both sides. Sougo doesn’t think of himself as particularly strong, but he’s found lately that he’s been capable of more strength than he thought.

“Sougo-kun, are you ready?”

Sougo hums in affirmation, and the two hoist up the dresser with relative ease. Sougo notes that Ryuu must be doing most of the heavy lifting, which pricks Sougo with a sense of shame. He’s a man, yet he can’t even do this… well, Momo said that Ryuu refused to do it on his own.

“Ryuu, be gentle~”

“Momo-san, I hope you don't mind, but um...” Ryuu trails off, his own voice soft and tinged with bashfulness.

Momo laughs, “sorry, are you embarrassed? I'll behave! Promise!”

Sougo wonders to himself why Ryuu seems so sexy even when he’s embarrassed...

* * *

“Yuki-san, I brought Momo-san. Isn’t that great?” Ryuu announces, nodding to Sougo that he can let go of Momo now. Sougo obliges, and the two guide the dresser down gently.

Momo pouts, “is Yuki really asleep now~? How boring. I came all this way too!”

Ryuu is quick to respond, but quickly bites back his words with a sigh. “I’ve never been good at waking him up, Momo-san…”

Now free of heavy lifting, Sougo’s eyes immediately travel to admire the beauty of the piano. It’s almost as nice as the one back at his old house-- even newer, if he dares to say. Drawn by its beauty and driven by his desire to play the piano, he walks over to the grand piano curiously. He looks over at Ryuu, and tilts his head as if asking for permission.

“Let him! Maybe Yuki will wake up?”

“... maybe. Go for it, Sougo-kun!”

Sougo returns Ryuu’s leniency with a bright smile, and he nods, pulling out the bench nestled against the piano. Sougo then sits down on the bench, straightens his back, and gently lifts the cover that protected the piano’s keys. He mentally searches his head for any pieces he remembers by heart, but settles first for warming up by playing a scale. The piano is still well-maintained, and is perfectly in tune. Smiling at the fact, he ceases playing the scale, and then lets a melody flow out beneath his fingers.

A song that only he and his uncle knew. Sougo wouldn’t be surprised if his uncle revealed that he had actually enchanted their piano with magic-- since that’s what the song felt like to him. It was always a spell to lift Sougo’s spirits, calming him with its gentle melody and soothing harmonies.

If only his uncle had longer to share more of his magic with the world.

“Your music sounds so happy, yet you’re crying.” A mysterious, yet mesmerizing voice remarks smoothly.

Dumbfounded by the observation, Sougo tries to wipe away his tears, and notices that he has indeed been crying. Assuming the voice must’ve been the mysterious Yuki, he inhales deeply before responding. “It… made me think about the man who wrote the song.”

“Is that so? He’s created a lovely one. A magical one, you could say.”

“I’m sure he’d like to hear that…” Sougo chokes out, just now noticing that his vision is blurrier than ever from his tears. He’s soon covered in some comforting warmth, and he turns behind to see that the lord has enveloped him in an embrace. “Tsunashi-san…”

Flustered, the other immediately withdraws his arms, and folds them behind his back. “Sorry, Sougo-kun… I just hoped to comfort you. It’s probably weird and I shouldn’t have d--”

Sougo chuckles. “It felt nice, Tsunashi-san.” He offers him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for worrying you.” He sniffs, willing himself to stop crying. After another few deep breaths, Sougo has calmed down, and he clears his own vision by wiping his eyes. He then searches for the source of the voice, and then is finally met by the face right in front of him, where usually the music sheets would rest at.

“Ah~ so I see why you stayed human,” Yuki teases with a wink, “well, I won’t pry your reasons for the tears. It’s nice to meet you, my name is Yuki. Your playing is remarkable, it’s managed to wake me up.”

“Yuki, it’s because no one else plays the piano but you!” Momo chimes in with a pout, but his expression softens. “Sougo really is an angel… he can play the piano so well too.”

Sougo laughs sheepishly, “ah, Momo-san… you speak too highly of me.”

“Not at all!” Momo chirps, “I’m super grateful! I get to see Yuki again~ and stay with him, right?”

Ryuu blinks, “ah… er, sure. I think it’s for the better, Momo-san. What about Sougo-kun’s clothes, though?”

“Mmm~ good question.” Momo pauses, “who would be willing to carry clothes over..?”

As everyone ponders on how to solve the solution, Sougo notices another figure come into the parlor. Sougo scrambles to get off the piano, returning it to its prior state and pushing the bench in. Yuki playfully whines to Sougo about being more gentle, and Sougo shakes his head with a small smile in response. He immediately updates his mental profile of Yuki with the fact that he’s the same level of eccentric as Momo.

“Gaku, you need something?” Ryuu calls out, squatting down slightly as the figure reveals itself to be a fancy candle.

 _Gaku? Like… Gaku Yaotome?_ Sougo’s eyes widen, as he scrutinizes the candle, and then spots his face. Although now resembling a cartoon, he notices that his eyes are the same color as the Gaku he knew in the past.

“Ryuu, what did I say about doing that? I feel like a kid, geez.” Gaku grimaces, “well, anyways. Tenn wanted me to tell you to go to the library.”

Ryuu nods, “ah, okay. Can you watch after Sougo-kun, then? Make sure he gets back safely.”

“I will, don’t worry.” Gaku sighs, nudging Ryuu slightly to hurry up. “Tenn doesn’t like waiting long.”

Ryuu laughs, dips his head in apology to the rest for leaving so quickly, and then turns around and exits the room.

“Oh, I got it! Gaku, you can take clothes to Sougo everyday!” Momo exclaims, “so I can stay here with Yuki.”

Gaku raises an eyebrow, “huh..? I mean, I guess… wait, so it’s Osaka?” He gasps, turning slightly to fix his gaze on him.

Sougo, equally surprised, nods his head. “Yaotome-san… so this is what happened. I’m… glad.”

“Glad I turned into a candlestick?” Gaku jokes with a snort, “I know, I’m really something now. I bet my old man is pissed. You’ve seen him recently?”

Sougo shakes his head, “no… about that. I left.”

Gaku’s eyes widen, but then he simply shrugs off his surprise. “I’m surprised to hear that from you, Osaka. But I’m glad, you look much more free now. That kind of life is pretty suffocating…”

“Yes… I wonder if it got any better now. Tamaki-kun’s sister, Aya-chan…” Sougo grimaces, his shoulders drooping slightly at the idea. He doesn’t want to leave Tamaki here by himself, though… and what if the curse gets worse when he leaves? “A-Ah, also… I was just glad to see that you’re safe. You disappeared before I left, so…”

Gaku laughs, “don’t worry about me. Let’s focus on breaking Ryuu’s curse, yeah? I won’t ask you what happened, but I’m glad to see you’re still okay.”

Just as touched as he’s always been by his frankness, Sougo only bobs his head in response. “If you say so. Shall we return now? I don’t want to keep you from your duties, Yaotome-san.”

Gaku sideyes Momo and Yuki happily conversing by themselves, then turns back to Sougo and nods. “Bye Momo-san, Yuki-san.”

“Fufu, farewell~ thank you for the song, Sougo-kun. Please come to play again.” Yuki smiles, taking on a more sly expression, “it’d be an honor to be touched by you aga--”

“Osaka, we’re leaving now.” Gaku cuts the piano off before he can finish his statement properly. “I’ll just come whenever Osaka needs a change of clothes.”

Momo pouts, “you’re so cold, Gaku~ come here soon, okay~?”

Gaku snorts, but he doesn’t spare any time to give the older two an answer. He instead shrugs them off and beckons Sougo to follow him outside of the ballroom.

A comfortable silence remains between the two of them, and Sougo notices that despite their history, they don’t actually have much to talk about. Sure, Sougo can tell Gaku about all of his circumstances, or even those insecurities bubbling inside of him, but--

He hasn’t changed. He’s still so hesitant to even initiate a conversation on his own. Unconsciously, Sougo’s fingers tug at his shirt, gripping on them to pull Sougo to his reality. He glances at the long winding corridor, and notices muffled voices coming from the end. He stops in his tracks, hoping that Gaku would get the signal.

“Osaka?”

“Don’t you hear something, Yaotome-san..?” Selfishly acting on both his curiosity and worry, Sougo shifts the direction of his feet and steps closer to the room.

Gaku follows him, but his face is dripping with skepticism as they get closer. “You shouldn’t eavesdrop, you know.”

Sougo frowns, but waves a hand for Gaku to stay silent as he crouches down next to the door. He doesn’t feel good about overhearing someone like this either, but… he’s insanely curious. He trains his ear closer to the door, and begins to pick up on their conversation from there.

“... are you serious? We don’t have much time at all, Ryuu.”

“Tenn-nii… i-if anyone can, Sougo-san can definitely break the curse before then! Tsunashi-san will be fine, and so will we… right?”

“... thank you, Riku-kun. Tenn, don’t worry. Maybe it’ll work out that way, and even if it doesn’t--”

“Ryuu, you’re going to die if that shell disappears all the way. How fast is it deteriorating?”

A gulp. Sougo glances over at Gaku, and he notes how disgruntled he looks. So Sougo needs to find out how to break the curse quickly, or else Ryuu will die..?

The thought of someone’s life being in his hands…

“One piece crumbles away a day like this. But really, it’ll be fine. If I die, doesn’t that mean you all will be freed from the curse?”

“That’s… usually how it goes, yes.”

“Then, what do you have to worry about?”

“Ryuu, you’re such an idiot.” The pain in Tenn’s voice strikes Sougo directly in the heart-- the pain only dulled by his own anxieties.

Sougo then forces himself to stand up straight, and he begins to walk away from the room. He turns around slightly to see how the candle is handling it, and Sougo swears his heart fractures at the sight. He looks so dispirited, so drained. Sougo bites on his lip, and dips his head. “I’m sorry Yaotome-san, I can find a way back myself.”

 _Why am I so useless?_ Sougo curses himself, even now finding it pitiful that all he knows to do is provoke himself into action.

Where has all of that determination he’s had before gone? He can’t be faltering now because of pressure.

Sougo grimaces, but makes a resolve to retire to his room for now. He’ll think about it with Nagi.

_Even if I don’t think I deserve it, they’re counting on me…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the end of daily updates unfortunately bc i haven't written the next chapter yet. haha.
> 
> i may or may not take a tiny break(?) from it, but i'll try to write as much as i can before my semester starts!
> 
> per usual, feel free to follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea) for more updates and some special information that could determine stuff i can write in the future~ hmmm.
> 
> also nagisou friendship is very important to me ok


	6. a melody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello it's been a while...... i'm all moved in my dorm and such but i was kinda busy so it took me a while to get this done but!! hey get ready. it's back! hope u enjoy!

“Sougo, it’s no good to spend the whole day burying your head in a pillow.” Nagi reprimands him with a frown. If mirrors could shake their heads, then Sougo is pretty sure that Nagi would be doing that right now. “You've been like this yesterday, too… I thought to let you get your rest, but…”

All Sougo has to offer is a muffled groan, and he continues to vent his frustrations into his pillow. All his worries keep pressing down harder and harder on him, wedging their way forcefully down his throat. He can’t keep afloat with the idea that they’re all counting on him like this. Their high hopes might be shattered if he isn’t able to break it in time… he doesn’t even have a clue of how to break the curse. All Tenn told him was to see Ryuu for more than his looks, but… he can't figure out what that means.

“Sougo.” Nagi repeats with more force, and it’s almost like his voice wields a blade aiming for his stomach. “We’ve haven’t known each other that long, yes, but I can already tell you’re bothered.”

Nagi’s concern tears Sougo from the sea of negative thoughts his brain created, and Sougo finally summons the strength to get up. He sits up on the bed, and he, although slowly, turns around to face his new friend face on.

The mirror gives him a satisfactory smile, “excellent! Now, smile at yourself.”

Albeit hesitant, Sougo attempts to raise the corners of his lips upward.

“OH… I’d like to see a wider smile! Think of it this way, you’re immensely happy to be yourself at the moment, and you’re happy to be alive.” Nagi pauses, but then he keeps going, “you’ve just read an incredible book… or you just heard the most beautiful song that makes you want to dance and sing along!”

“Nagi-kun…” Sougo chuckles, finding his trying to cheer him up quite humorous after all. The large burden on his heart is lifted-- not entirely, of course, but it feels a little lighter. Better. He doesn’t feel like he’s going to suffocate. Naturally, his smile grows wider.

“Ah, yes! Look! This is my beautiful friend, Sougo. Tell him it’s nice to meet you, okay?”

He laughs, “it really feels childish to be talking to myself.” Not wanting to disappoint Nagi, he listens to him nonetheless, and dips his head and greets his reflection in the mirror. “Hello, my name is Sougo Osaka. If you’ve heard of the Osaka family, then please do your best to separate them and me. I am myself…”

“Good, good!” Nagi cheers, and the two’s shared moment of bliss is interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Ah… come in.”

The door edges open, revealing the candle laden with a pile of clothes. “Geez, Osaka. You’re getting used to us serving you already. Yotsuba’s the one always bringing your meals with Izumi-otouto, huh?”

Sougo laughs softly, slipping off the bed to properly attend to his new visitor,  “sorry for troubling you all. I was just… troubled the past two days. I’ll stop imposing on y--”

Gaku snorts, “it was just a joke, Osaka. You’re our guest, it’d be wrong if we didn’t serve you.”

“You’re a noble too, you know..?”

“You’re technically higher ranking than me, Osaka.”

“Not anymore. I’m a commoner now.” Sougo mumbles, scooping his outfit off of Gaku. He lays it neatly on the bed, and then glances back at the candle. He crouches down slightly, and reaches out a hand toward him.

Gaku stays silent, warily watching his hands, “what are you doing?”

“I…”

“You’ll burn yourself, you know.” He smiles wryly, “surprisingly, you’re just as reckless as Yotsuba. He kept poking all of us.”

Sougo’s eyes widen, “did he really? I’m so sorry.” He withdraws his hand, and sighs as he dips his head.

Gaku chuckles, “don’t worry about it. Get dressed because Ryuu needs to see you for something.”

“Me..?” Sougo blinks, turning around and shoots a confused look at the other.

Gaku shrugs, and simply leaves the room, “come out when you’re done changing.”

Sougo grimaces, wondering about the circumstances that caused Ryuu to summon his presence, but shrugs it off. It could be for the sake of the curse-- they do get along somewhat well, but Sougo can’t help but be nervous the whole time he’s in any close proximity with him. He knows it’s due to the effects of the curse, but Sougo has an inkling that he’ll be a mess around him regardless.

He tugs on his newly prepared outfit, consisting of a white button down, black slacks, and plain white socks. Sougo’s not opposed to its simplicity, and he makes sure to adjust the collar-- although he itches for his usual scarf. He drapes it around his neck, and stares into the mirror as soon as he completes his work.

Nagi hums in approval, reassuring Sougo. “Isn’t this nice? Sometimes a change of clothes can freshen you up. Enjoy your time with Tsunashi-shi.”

Sougo manages a small smile, dipping his head in gratitude to Nagi as he walks over toward the door. He exchanges one last look with Nagi, and then steps outside the room for the first time in two days.

* * *

“Ah, it’s the same hall as that time…” Sougo muses, suddenly conscious of where he places his feet. This time he’s actually been invited to the corridor, but he can’t help the chilling sensations pulsing through his blood. He stops short of the actual door to the lord’s quarters, and Sougo’s even tempted to step back.

“Strange, you were _so_ much more willing to come here when you were eavesdropping.” Gaku jokes, presumably hoping to lighten the mood even a bit. He glances up at Sougo meaningfully, and gestures as he rattles off the rest of his instructions, “I’ll give you two some privacy. Later.”

“Yaotome-san, wait.”

The candle turns back around and raises an eyebrow, “what?”

Sougo shoots him a small smile, “thank you.”

The other chuckles in response, and shakes his head. “No problem, Osaka.” He then starts to make his way out of the corridor, pushing Sougo to finally face the source of his anxieties.

Hesitantly, he swivels himself around and raps the door as elegantly as possible in order to not create a worse impression on him. He’s probably being _too_ mindful about the tiniest aspects of proper decorum, but it’s better to do it just in case.

Soon the door opens, revealing Ryuu in all his glory. His eyes are as kind as ever, emanating warmth as if they're made out of fresh caramel. His skin still glows as brilliantly as ever, but Sougo finally takes notes of the signs of weariness on his face. Evidently, he's been stressed about something.

Sougo swallows back a gulp, the familiar feeling of uneasiness begins to well back up again.

“Sougo-kun…” Ryuu smiles, stepping back a bit to let Sougo to enter.

He hesitates for a moment to let his tumultuous feelings calm down, but finally steps into the room. He takes in the surroundings, noting that they're not as ornate as he'd think the lord of the manor would have it. Of course, Ryunosuke is no ordinary lord. But a steady, yet weakening light catches Sougo's attention. Sougo turns to examine the source of the light, and sees that it's a part of a shell perching on the table. His eyes widen at the sight, and unconsciously he moves toward it.

The glow encompassing what's left of the shell is the same as the one that constantly surrounds Ryunosuke. So that means it's linked to the curse. Unsure if Ryuu is just as secretive as Tenn about his curse, Sougo opens his mouth to ask, “the shell was once complete… it's linked to…”

“Yes, it seems like it's like a timer.” Ryuu replies with a frown, “it's what holds the curse in the first place. Once it's completely gone…”

“Tsunashi-san, you'll die with it…” Sougo mumbles weakly, hoping that Ryuu will correct him on his assumption. His correction doesn't come, further dampening Sougo's spirits.

“Sorry, you don't need to worry about me.” Ryuu apologizes, his voice soft and it feels so warm that Sougo wants be wrapped in it. “I was actually worried about you, Sougo-kun. Riku-kun and Tamaki-kun said you've been cooped up in your room.”

More guilt arises in Sougo’s chest, and he begins to clutch at it to force it out. So he's been worried about him even when his life is about to end soon? He has an unbelievable, even stupid, amount of kindness.

He's never been cared for that much by anyone.

“Some fresh air will help. Let's go out to the balcony.” Ryuu suggests genially, walking up to Sougo"s side and touching the back of his hand. “Can I?” He asks, referring to his hand.

Sougo flushes at the idea of the gesture, but nods. Ryuu smiles at his answer, and gently laces his fingers in his.

He lets out a soft gasp at his touch, but soon relaxes into it. His hands are slightly calloused from who knows what, yet they feel comfortable all the same. Stupidly, Sougo even thinks that their hands perfectly align with each other.

Ryunosuke guides him by lightly tugging on their intertwined hands, and weaves him through his bedroom to the sliding glass door. With his other hand, he applies some pressure and the door easily slides open, letting in the crisp autumn breeze. A burst of wind hits Sougo’s face, sweeping his hair all over. Ryuu chuckles at the scene, causing Sougo’s cheeks to grow into an even redder hue.

“It must be chillier than I thought,” Ryuu remarks, pointing out Sougo’s rosy cheeks, “if it’s too cold, we can go back in.”

Sougo shakes his head immediately, “no… it feels quite nice, actually.” He seems too oblivious… well, he’ll consider that a blessing in disguise.

As if reassured by Sougo's words, Ryuu then moves them further out in the balcony, and then he pauses in front of the rail. He glances over at Sougo with the same gentle, yet withdrawn smile. He then looks down at their still linked hands, and his own face seems to be getting red. “Ah, should I let g--”

“No, you can keep holding it!” Sougo blurts out almost too quickly, but then averts his gaze as soon as he realizes his outburst.

“If you're fine with it…” Ryuu mumbles, his voice lighter with relief.

Hands still joined together, the two begin to look out into the distant view. Ryuu reclines an arm on the rail, and unconsciously Sougo does the same. He even leans slightly into the railing.

All he can see from above is pleasant greenery adorning the wall. Beyond that lies more greenery and then an elegant metal fence dividing the manor from the rest of the world.

He begins to think of the life he left behind. If only he could carelessly live the rest of his days in this mansion with Ryuu… it sounds nice. But knowing both of their circumstances, this happy moment cannot last forever.

Without thinking, his gaze falls on the lord’s profile. He looks as stunning as ever, and brilliantly refined with the sunlight tickling his face at its edges. Soon, he turns around to face Sougo, catching him off guard. “It's beautiful, isn't it?”

“Yes…” Sougo murmurs in reply, his heartbeat quickening as he bites back his desire to say that it's Ryuu who's beautiful.

“When my mother first got remarried, I would always be overwhelmed by all the new duties that come with being a noble.” He begins, “so I'd always come outside. Somehow, seeing how vast this forest manages to calm me down.”

Sougo nods thoughtfully, reflecting on his own frustrations with being born into nobility. Sougo personally had it harder, considering his father possesses such great pride, but he can understand how the change can affect Ryunosuke.

“I’m the oldest of all my brothers, so I agreed to the engagement with another esteemed family in their place.” Ryuu continues as a more somber expression graces his features. “She… didn’t love me at all. She just wanted my father’s name. And when I wanted to break up the engagement…”

“So she’s the one who left you with a curse.” Sougo reasons, his heart sinking when Ryuu confirms with a nod. The thought of his demise decided by the whim of another… _infuriates_ him. He only wishes that he knew enough magic to somehow find more ways to reverse the spell. He should’ve attempted to study some more magic while he was here.

Unwittingly, he begins to shake-- furious at his own incompetence, but Ryuu only squeezes his hand tighter as some sort of reassurance. Softly, he whispers, “it’s okay, Sougo-kun.”

 _It’s not_ , Sougo desperately wants to say, but the words become stuck in his throat as he notices the somewhat satisfied look on the other’s face.

“I’m happy.”

“Why?”

“It might be a little selfish of me to say, but… you’re worried about me.” Ryuu smiles, “and I can actually do more than tell you it’ll be okay.”

Sougo blinks, confused at the other’s words, but realizes that it may be because he’s the only one to have not fallen victim to the curse. He doesn’t quite understand why that’s the case, since he likes Ryuu plenty-- well, this is for the better.

Ryuu simply says nothing else on the matter, and begins to start singing-- it’s a pleasant melody, and initially Sougo takes the time to admire the richness of his voice. It’s gentle, slightly nasally, and in conclusion a very pleasant experience for his ears.

Aside from the incredibly euphonious sound, the lyrics are beautiful-- and somehow, it resonates with him. Or it could be because of the singer. Sougo hums along to it, lulled by his soothing vibrato, earning a relieved smile from Ryuu.

“Your voice is beautiful, Tsunashi-san,” Sougo honestly enthuses, “that song…”

Ryuu laughs, tossing his head back with the sudden gust of wind, “it’s a pretty romantic song, isn’t it? It’s my--”

He pauses, and then quickly reconsiders his words. “Well, nevermind about me. Sougo-kun, close your eyes. And take out a hand.”

Despite being startled by the sudden demand, Sougo listens and flutters his eyes shut. Reluctant to break their entwined hands, he raises the other hand he had simply left hanging over the rail. Soon, something cold is pressed up against his hand, and soon Ryuu whispers to Sougo to open his eyes.

He’s met with a mirror elegantly gilded as an intricate pattern creating a border around the glass. He peers into it, staring intently at his reflection. He blinks, and then glances up at Ryuu for an answer. “This is..?”

“It’s a mirror, but not any ordinary one. See…” Ryuu rests a hand on the top of the mirror, turning slightly and hovering over Sougo’s body. He murmurs some sort of incarnation, and soon Sougo’s reflection is replaced by another familiar scene.

The mirror pans up to a view of Aya in her bed. She’s wheezing, as if disturbed by night terrors in her slumber. Sougo bites his lips, his heart slowly feeling as if it’s being strangled. As some sort of reassurance, Ryuu squeezes his hand.

The vision continues on to show Yamato by her bedside with a grimace on his face, and he looks ridiculously unkempt. As if he hasn’t given himself the time for self-care the past few days. Dark circles underlined his eyes, his hair is frazzled, and an eternal grimace is stuck on his lips.

A beat. His heart rate speeds up again, as his anxiousness begins to overflow in his chest. “Yamato-san!” Sougo manages to blurt out, his voice cracking as he continues to watch the scene. The more he looks at it, the more powerless he felt. He looks up at the lord with a solemn expression on his face. “Tsunashi-san… I think I have to go back.”

Ryunosuke smiles, albeit sadly, and he dips his head. He pulls away his hand from Sougo’s, and then looks at him intently. “I thought you’d want to go back… I’ll take care of Tamaki-kun. He left the herbs in his bag next to your bed. Take it with you, and make sure she’s safe.”

Sougo nods, but he tries to reach out for Ryuu’s hand again. “But what about you, Tsunashi-san..?” He asks quietly, pointing toward the direction of the shell. “You’ll…”

“They’ll all be freed from the curse when it happens.” He attempts to reassure him, and then turns his back on him completely, tugging the mirror out of Sougo’s sight. “You need to go now, Sougo-kun… Aya-chan is more important to you, right?”

“She’s my family now… Tamaki-kun, too.” Sougo sighs, but turns around as well. Ryuu’s voice grows quieter as he does this, and Sougo ignores that fact as he steps away from the railing. Call it courage, or maybe sheer stupidity, or maybe the thought that regretting when Ryunosuke was long out of his reach-- but he doesn’t want to leave without telling him something.

“Tsunashi-san… I… I care for you, too. You’re one of the kindest people I’ve met. I can’t think of how I can even begin to repay you for your kindness.”

Embarrassed by his bold declaration and also spurred on by the urgency of the situation back in the village, Sougo quickens his pace and leaves the room as fast as possible.

“It wasn’t just kindness.” Ryunosuke murmurs after making sure Sougo has left the corridor. He sighs, turning around to stare forlornly back into his bedroom.

He thinks about how it might be the last time he’ll ever see him. Although it’ll pain him, the curiosity and desire to make sure Sougo stays safe prevails over his own sense of self-preservation. He has a life… he has a family to protect.

There’s no need for Ryuu to selfishly take that from him. That would make him no better than a monster… a _beast_.

Desperate for his humanity, he thinks to run after him. To tell him to come back and pretend that the vision in the mirror wasn’t the truth. It’s ugly to think of Sougo as an antidote to all his problems-- that’s not who he is. _He’s an angel_ , Ryunosuke thinks.

_He’s just not mine._

He resigns himself to re-entering his room, and shuts the door to his balcony. Eager for some sort of punishment, he also locks the door.

He decides that his plan from the beginning has been the only choice all along. If only he has done it earlier so he never dragged anyone else into it. He walks over to the chair next to the table displaying his lifeline of a shell, and settles into it. Ryuu takes out the mirror, and activates it again to watch over Sougo.

At this point, he ran into the room and taken off with the herbs as Ryuu instructed.

Ryuu chuckles flatly. It’d be sadder if he was more stubborn, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will have ryuu's pov... when i write it... 
> 
> as always, feel free to check for updates and other cool info on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea)! sometimes I'll post tiny previews of what I'm working on so that's a place to check. that's all, and thanks for reading!


	7. in the mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, it's been a while! but i swear i'm gonna try to finish this.. wheezes.  
> ANYWAYS did u guys hear takuya satou (ryuu's seiyuu) sing beauty and the beast. it's perfect. (if not u can dm me on twitter for it)
> 
> with that, please enjoy the chapter!

“Oi, Ryuu! Open the door!” Gaku yells, and repeats his desperate shouts several more times, but no knocking comes. “You… didn't I tell you to talk to us? You don’t have to do this alone!”

Ryunosuke doesn't respond, instead he stares blankly into the mirror. Of course, he isn't able to hear what is going on with Sougo, and all he can do is watch and draw his own conclusions. He takes a deep breath as his fingers hover over the glass of the mirror, and finally he gently touches it when the mirror begins to fixate on Sougo as the scene continues to play.

* * *

“Oh, Sougo. So you’re finally back.” The taller man greets him with a smirk, raising a single arm as an attempt at a wave.

Sougo narrows his eyes as soon as he sees his boss, and far too frantic to act civil with him, he tries to evade him by avoiding his gaze and continues onto his front door. Torao’s smile disappears and he walks alongside him to the door, seemingly offended when Sougo continues to ignore him coldly.

“Sougo--”

Sougo wordlessly steps forward, jams his key into the keyhole and turns it open. Withdrawing his key as swiftly as he could, he doesn’t waste a single glance on Torao, and slams the door on him. To his relief, he gives up for now-- _good_. Now he needs to find Yamato and Aya-- he’s managed to get the apothecary to make medicine out of the plants, so hopefully it’ll help. He walks briskly to Aya’s bedroom, flinging it open to see a weary Yamato and a sleeping Aya. Glad that she’s still breathing at the very least, Sougo lets out the breath he’s been holding for so long, and comes over to her side. “Yamato-san, I’m so sorry.” He’s quick to apologize, surprised at the amount of strain he’s put on his voice-- something about it startled him. It’s different-- deeper.

Yamato turns slightly, looking up at Sougo with a small smile. “I was worried you got cursed over there like Tama.” He lets out a sigh of his own, stretching out his back a bit. “So you have it?”

Sougo nods, and then he reaches into his pockets to take out the antidote for Aya. He then hands it to Yamato, who then starts grabs the glass of water with it. Sougo takes the liberty of waking Aya into at least a conscious enough state to take the medicine.

“Aya-chan,” Sougo whispers, “it’ll be alright.” Gently, he tries to rouse her from her slumber, shaking her body slightly.

After a few more shaking, her eyes flutter open, and suddenly bright blue eye begin to bore into him. Albeit strenuously, she manages a tiny smile, “S-Sougo-san…”

Sougo returns with a reassuring smile of his own, and he runs a hand through her hair, hoping to soothe her.

“Where’s… onii-san?”

His smile falters at her question, and he glances away, not being able to bear being the one to deliver the news. The truth that Tamaki’s trapped in an unknown manor-- and Sougo left him behind. He knows that he’ll be safe, but… how does he explain that to her. If she gets emotional, then she might not be able to recover at fast. “Tamaki-kun is fine. Just focus on getting better first, okay?”

Aya hums in response, and obediently takes the medicine from Yamato and consumes it. Sougo then eases her to lie down again on the bed, and she looks up at him. “Sougo-san… thank you.” She mumbles, raising the blankets up and over her mouth, and then closes her eyes.

Sougo then steps back, leaving Aya to rest. He motions to Yamato to get up from his seat, and then gestures for the both of them to leave the room.

The two decide to leave it to sleep and the medicine to work its magic on her, and then exit out to the hallway.

The root of his worries now eased, he looks over at the taller man in glasses. He frowns, noticing the signs of exhaustion evident on the doctor’s face. He was already worried by how he looked through Ryuu’s mirror, but seeing him in person is certainly a different story. “Yamato-san. You need to rest.”

Yamato groans, and scratches the back of his neck, “I sure do. It’s annoying fending off that Mido too. He kept asking for you.”

Guilt flashes across Sougo’s face, and he nods, “so it’s like that. I ignored him to get in here.”

“Huh? Is he still outside?” Yamato chuckles darkly, “talk about persistent.”

Sougo frowns, but nods as he’s decided on something. “Yamato-san, I’ll… try to reason with him. You need to go get some rest.”

“I just need a beer or something, I’ll be fine.” He replies with a shrug, “you sure took your sweet time though.”

A laugh. “Things happened…” Sougo squints at Yamato again, “and alcohol won’t make everything better. You’re sleep deprived, Yamato-san.”

“You think that’s the same thing as being drunk?” Yamato lets out a yawn as he utters those words, causing Sougo to shake his head and then he starts to push him toward his room. “Yamato-san, I insist that you borrow my bed. How long have you been sitting there?”

“Oh, your bed, huh,” he snorts, “well… like I said, don’t worry about it.”

“ _Yamato-san_.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll sleep and you tell that guy to go screw himself.”

“That’s.” Sougo frowns, “not the way I would put it, but I guess that’s what I am going to do.”

Yamato chuckles, clipping Sougo on the shoulder as he walks toward Sougo's room and leaving it to him to handle the situation.

With a sigh, Sougo stiffens his back as he strengthens his own resolve, and then he decides to finally face Torao upfront. He approaches the front door, and warily opens it, keeping an even expression as he locks eyes with his former boss. “Mido-san, you’re still…”

Torao sighs, scratching the back of his neck, “well, before I got so _rudely_ interrupted… I wanted to talk to you. It’ll be an honest conversation, I won’t be pulling anything.” He throws his hands up in a surrender, attempting to show Sougo that he truly means no harm.

Sougo bites his lip, wanting desperately to spurn him, but the courteousness ingrained in his soul said otherwise, and he nods mechanically, widening the space between the door and its frame, allowing Torao to enter the house. It’s a humble house, nothing like the estate he used to live in and definitely nothing like Ryuu’s splendid manor, but it’s on the better end of peasant homes. Quietly, and even timidly, he begins, “I apologize for my unbecoming behavior earlier, Mido-san. Come in, I’ll hear you out.”

Torao obliges, shutting the door behind him as he enters the house. Sougo leads him to the parlor, motioning for Torao to take a seat on the couch as he went to prepare freshments. “Sougo, you don’t need to.”

Sougo turns back mechanically, peering over his shoulder with that same impassive, cold stare. “You don’t like tea, do you? I can get cof--”

“Water’s fine. Hell, I don’t need anything to drink!” Torao cuts him off with a sigh, “listen, I just need your full attention for this.” He then gestures to the seat across from him.

Sougo complies, although reluctantly, and sits down in the opposing chair of Torao’s. He looks over at him expectantly, waiting for him to start.

“I’ve been thinking about this while you were gone,” Torao starts, narrowing his gaze. “You’re pretty irresponsible, aren’t you?”

“I...Irresponsible?” He whispers, eyes falling to his lap as he avoids Torao’s stare. Sougo swallows a gulp, wondering if his departure alone is making Torao think of him as irresponsible. It’s the opposite, isn’t it? “I had to go there to save Tamaki-kun and then…”

“Then where is that kid?” Torao cuts him off with a frown, “you put yourself at risk at this curse, and you… _stayed_ there longer than necessary?” He scoffs, “there’s a sick girl in your care, and you stayed. Knowing Ryuu, he would’ve let you go at any time. But you were gone for a week.”

“Tamaki’s been pulled into the curse, so I need to go back to save him.” Sougo murmurs, the supposedly carefully constructed words tumbling out of his mouth with uncertainty. “... and… wait, you know Tsunashi-san?”

Torao adjusts his vest, letting out a prompt sigh as he nods his head. “Yes, yes, noble shit. But what, don’t tell me you fell in love with him or something--”

Sougo blushes at his accusation, and shakes his head. “N-No, it’s not that… I just… feel bad for him.”

“The curse, right.” Torao pauses, going silent. “I dunno why you’re not affected, but I guess that means you’re speci--”

“Exactly!” Sougo exclaims desperately, stirring up from the couch and slamming his hands on the table. “If I can do something… just something to help free everyone from the curse, then… it’s my responsibility to…”

“Sougo, that’s… _selfish_.” The other hisses, “that doesn’t changed that you pushed the limits. Get in your head that your _heroic_ pursuit took a toll on Glasses and the girl! Look at how well that worked out! Both of them were at risk.”

Sougo frowns, biting his lip, “It’s… not…” He balls his hand into a fist, and stares at it. “That’s enough, Mido-san.”

Torao sharply inhales, rising from his seat. He shrugs, “well, just know I tried. Sorry if my two cents pissed you off, but I’m telling the truth here. Well, hero, if you need saving, just know I’m here.” He sucks in a breath, pausing as if waiting for Sougo’s response. When Sougo fails to speak in time, he begins again, “I won’t stop you. But you better think about what you’re doing.”

Torao turns on his heel, and begins to exit the room.

“Wait, Mido-san.” Sougo speaks up, “... thank you. And I’m sorry--”

“It’s nothing.” Torao returns, but then takes off after that without letting Sougo get up to escort him out.

Sougo falls back into the couch, rubbing his temples as he thinks about the ultimatum Torao gave him. Is he doing this for self-fulfillment? No, that’s not it… he’s doing it because he’s expected to. Wait, that’s not right. They didn’t want to pressure him like that. Then…

_Why do I need to go back? I have to save Tamaki-kun… I have to save them all… I am their only hope…_

Slowly, he raises his legs onto the couch, and buries his head at his knees. What does he do? What _could_ he do? He should probably watch over Yamato and Aya as she’s recovering, but…

 _Tsunashi-san is running out of time._ But once Ryuu is gone, doesn’t that mean everyone is freed of the curse? But they all love Ryuu dearly, so surely it wouldn’t be any better when he’s gone. Forever.

 _I don’t want him to die. Tsunashi-san is far more deserving than such a fate._ So many people love him…

And maybe, Sougo loves him too.

* * *

“Ryuu!” Tenn and Gaku call in unison as soon as he pushes the door open. Ryuu flashes the both of them a sad smile, wordlessly turning the mirror in their direction. The two objects glance at the screen, and notices that it’s showing Sougo in an apparent state of conflict.

“I can’t make him do this.” Ryuu murmurs, “Tenn, Gaku… he’s suffering.”

“So are you,” Tenn shoots back with a pained expression on his face. “You’re the one who’s going to _die_ if we don’t break this curse. You’ve been hurting far longer than any of us. And certainly longer than that Osaka Sougo!” He gestures toward the shell under its display case. There still is a considerable part of it left, but it persists in chipping away.

“That’s not true, you’ve been with me this whole time.” Ryuu returns quietly, “you’ve been trying to help me. But Tenn, you and Riku should’ve--”

“You know I wouldn’t do that.” Tenn grimaces, “didn’t I tell you from the start? You’re important to me. There’s no way I’d leave you like this.”

“Tenn--”

“Hey…” Gaku jumps over right next to the display, peering into it for a better look. He’s apprehensive about cutting in on their conversation, but continues nevertheless. “Ryuu, we still have time.”

Ryuu turns slightly, and looks at the two of them with a somber expression. “I shouldn’t have gotten you all involved. This curse was only mines to bear, but then… everyone else! Mitsuki-kun and Iori-kun could’ve been free. Their parents must miss them deeply… and then Nagi-kun. Then Tamaki-kun, if he left… then Sougo-kun wouldn’t have been involved in this.”

“But Osaka is your hope!” Gaku retorts, “what, are you going to lose faith in him? Osaka isn’t that type of guy. He’ll think it’s his duty or something and come back--”

“I don’t want him to think it’s a duty.” Ryuu whispers, “he should just forget about me.”

He doesn’t want to be the one chaining down Sougo from what he wants to do-- he still doesn’t know enough about him-- for all he knows, he has much more important things to do than breaking some guy’s curse. “Tenn, is there a way to make him forget?”

“I’m not letting that happen.” Tenn frowns, “are you stupid, Ryuu?”

Ryuu seems to shrink into himself. “Maybe I am.” He mutters darkly, and then swats them away. “Sorry, but can you two leave? I..”

Gaku sighs, and looks down at the shell again. “Ryuu, you’re not alone. Osaka will come back, I swear… he’ll fix this.”

Tenn shoots a glare at Gaku, “just leaving it to Osaka Sougo? You’ve gotten surprisingly lazy about this, Gaku.”

“ _Young Master_ Gaku to you.” He hisses in return, “did you forget my rank?”

“Sorry, you act like such a plebeian that I didn’t even consider it.” Tenn scoffs, “also, I don’t work for you.”

“You _brat_.” Gaku huffs, jumping off the table where the display case is, and begins to exit the room. He shoots one last look at Ryuu, “have faith, Ryuu.”

Ryuu smiles back hesitantly, “sure. Goodbye, you two.”

“This isn’t goodbye.” Tenn adds, “don’t rely blindly on Osaka Sougo, we’re going to figure out a way. We’ll figure it out.”

They leave, to Ryuu’s relief, but he’s now left alone with only his thoughts. He inhales and exhales, almost rhythmically, before deciding to flip the magic mirror face down.

Ryuu would give everything to see Sougo’s smile again, the sweetness embedded in his kind heart, and his passion for music. He’s so passionate, to the point that he cried when he was playing.

The thought that he took that away from him hurts. He got him dragged into his problems and along with everyone else-- they’re sharing his suffering when they should not. It’ll all end soon, and even selfishly, he doesn’t want Sougo to see him like this. He doesn’t want to see him weakened like this, devoid of hope and consumed by guilt-- _really_ , Sougo doesn’t need to see him. He wants to be a happy memory for him, not a sad one. Ryuu chuckles at the jocosity of it all-- if he didn’t speak out against his fiancee, then this would’ve never happened.

But then he thinks about how he would’ve never met Sougo if that was true.

Ryuu sighs, casting one last glance at the slowly disappearing shell, and then he lets himself fall back into his chair.

He closes his eyes, wondering if it’ll be less painful if he’s asleep.

* * *

“Tenn, wait up.” Gaku calls, causing Tenn to pause and turn back to him. “You going back to the library? Please, haven’t you already read every single damn book in that place with Nanase’s help?”

“It’s still not enough.” Tenn answers with a frown, “I could’ve just missed the page where it talks about fairytale-based curses.”

“You don’t think Osaka is going to come back?”

“I gave him a hint, but I’m not sure if he realizes he’s the key to this puzzle.” Tenn narrows his gaze, “and why do you have so much blind faith in him, Gaku?”

Gaku blinks, “what, do you think that lowly of him? Osaka is a good guy. He’s much too restrained still, it seems… but he’s changed for the better.” He remarks with a small smile, “and I think he’ll continue to.”

“That’s strange, did you know him--”

“Haven’t you heard of the Osaka family?”

Tenn goes silent, but he nods. “So he’s from that prestigious family. How did he end up with Yotsuba Tamaki?”

Gaku shrugs, “who knows. But he ran away from his old man, you know.”

Tenn smirks, “oh, so he’s pretty gutsy.”

“That’s right, Tenn.” Gaku says almost triumphantly, bounding up to the stout clock to flick him with his candle arm. “So it’s not blind faith.”

“It’s not blind faith, I’ll give you that.” Tenn starts moving again, “but we have to be sure.”

“Right…” Gaku rolls his eyes, preferring to stand still. “Take a break yourself, Tenn.”

Tenn scoffs.

* * *

Sougo finishes the last strokes of his note to Yamato, albeit disgruntled at his messy signature, and then lies it on the table. Next to it, he places his pen and then several gold pieces for Yamato to take as payment for the trouble.

He reads over the letter one more time, blushing when he reaches the more embarrassing part of it.

 

_Yamato-san,_

_I’m sorry to keep troubling you like this. But when you see this, I want you to watch after Aya a bit longer for me. I need to get Tamaki-kun and..._

_There’s someone I love._

_I’m worried about him, and I need him to know that I love him. Call it rash or stupid, but I need to go back._

_Thank you for putting up with this, Yamato-san. You’re a truly great friend. And if there’s any more beer left in the fridge, it’s yours._

_Sincerely,_

_Sougo Osaka_

 

Renewed with the determination, he nods to himself as he packs the last of his things in a bag, and gets ready to return to the manor.

He makes sure to grab one of his mementos from his late uncle, a tome on magic-- perhaps it may have what’s necessary to break the curse. And when he asked the apothecary about this certain curse, she said that it might be a matter of a true love. Sougo had scoffed at that mentally, but remembering from the fairy tales Aya talked about before…

It may be plausible.

But Sougo is absolutely going to only use it as a last resort. He knows he loves Ryunosuke, but as for if he feels the same…

Sougo shakes his head, snapping himself out of his doubts. It doesn’t matter-- this time he’ll take a page out of Tamaki’s books and throw caution to the wind and act freely.

His father once said that love makes you crazy-- it’s illogical, irrational, and had no place in his life.

But Sougo thinks that love makes him stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING....!!!! sorry again about the wait. BUT... we are getting there. i'm not sure if i'll be able to wrap it up by the next chapter (doubt it) but we will see. idk what do u guys think? and what about an epilogue :thinking:
> 
> edit: okay yeah next chapter will be the last one. get hyped
> 
> either way please kick my ass if i don't post another chapter this month. please. i deserve it.
> 
> but find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea)!


	8. red rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy :)
> 
> no spoilers but when yuki starts playing the piano listen to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcs0LCbom7E).

“Sou-chan! You’re back?” The door opens to reveal an elated Tamaki along with an anxious Iori and Riku who was waiting alongside him. “Is… Is Aya okay?”

Sougo flashes them all a smile as soon as they let him into the manor, and he takes a moment to squat down to pat them all on their (general) heads. “Aya-chan is just fine. She got the medicine.”

“Why did you come back?” Tamaki mumbles, his eyes slightly glassy, “why did you-- no, I get it. You want to help Ryuu-aniki, don’t you?”

Sougo nods, “right. Where’s Tsunashi-san?”

“Ryuu-aniki is…”

The sound of clattering of objects speeding toward Sougo interrupt Tamaki’s explanation, and soon they stop in front of Sougo’s feet.

“Osaka!”  
“Osaka Sougo!”

“Do you two..?”

Gaku and Tenn nod, probably breathless from their quick arrival to greet Sougo. Gaku gestures for him to follow him, and Sougo nods. He first picks up Tamaki, and then Tamaki decides to perch on his shoulder-- and Sougo can only thank magic for that he isn’t falling off. With that being done, he begins to follow the two as they began to lead him to Ryuu.

No further words are exchanged between the four of them, and all Sougo can focus on is the rapid hammering of his heart. As they get closer to Ryuu’s room, Sougo swears his heart rate only increases.

Before Sougo could even conceive it, they’ve made it in front of his room, and hesitantly, Sougo knocks on the door. “Tsunashi-san? It’s me.”

No answer.

Sougo grimaces, and exchanges uncertain looks with Tenn and Gaku. Tenn flips himself around. “Osaka Sougo… I am counting on you.” Tenn murmurs, dipping his head, and hopping away.

“He’s still looking through the library’s books.” Gaku clarifies, “it’s like the only thing he has left in his control. Well, I'm going to gather the others. If anyone can get through to him, I know it’ll be you. Good luck, Osaka.”

Sougo mouths his thanks, watching wistfully as Gaku also disappears from his immediate sight. He takes a deep breath, knowing that he’s resolved to do this. And perhaps his persistence will be key in getting through to Ryuu. He tries to think what’s happened in the time he was gone-- _he must not have much time left. Tsunashi-san has given up._ “Tsunashi-san…”

“Ryuu-aniki… can’t you at least say hello to Sou-chan?! He came all the way back to you!” Tamaki yells from his shoulder, but Sougo gestures for him to stop. Tamaki shoots him a confused look, but Sougo only shakes his head in return.

He presses himself against the door, lending an ear to the door to see if he can hear anything on the other side. Unfortunately, his hearing is not so brilliant that he can hear something so nuanced as Ryuu’s breathing. Sougo sighs into the door, and continues to rest his cheek against the wood. He opens his mouth, and starts to vocalize.

The song from their last meeting flashes in his mind, and he begins to sing off his memory-- which it to say, as true to the memory. Something in his heart swelled at it, so Sougo remembers the scene vividly. While his voice is not as outstanding at Ryuu’s, in his opinion, he continues to belt out the lyrics-- all of it coming from the heart.

There is magic in music, however he knows that he isn’t a magician like his uncle. He isn’t yet able to cast magic through his songs. Despite Sougo’s impassioned singing, Ryuu has yet to respond-- or even stir.

He glances down and see what he has in his hands, and it’s the tome he’s picked up that may have information on the curse. Sougo quickly skimmed it on the way here from the village, but it hadn’t had any words jump at him particularly. Well, he wants to make sure it has some use. So instead of holding it with his arm, he grabs it with both of his hands, and then he backs away from the door. He then faces it head-on, and brings the book overhead. He closes his eyes as if channeling all his strength into this, and he then begins to bring the book down on the door--

“Sou-chan, what the heck are you doing!?” Tamaki cries, “ _and_ you’re still singing? Scary…”

Sougo deftly ignores Tamaki’s protests, and continues with what he’s doing, but he’s made to restart his assault on the door. If he can knock it down...

Tamaki groans, “okay, I am not being a part of breaking down Ryuu-aniki’s door!” He then leaps off of Sougo’s shoulder, and resolving to leave him alone with Ryuu without allowing Sougo any time to justify himself.

Well, not like he can easily justify his actions. Sougo wishes that he had a better weapon to break down the door, and thinks that something pointier would be better. He hums, looking around in the corridor if there’s anything he could make use of, for the book is only a blunt object and cannot get him very far if he plans on destroying the door.

Oh, there has to be a more efficient way to do this! Sougo looks down at his feet, and then realizes he could perfectly well manage himself. He sets the tome down on the floor, and then he readies himself to kick down the door. He tries to think of how it could be done, and remembers if his uncle told him anything about that…

Unfortunately, his uncle hadn’t said anything on that matter, so Sougo has to rely on his wit. As long as he applies force to the leg he’s kicking with, it’ll be fine. He keeps his left leg steady on the floor, and then with the other he drives the heel of his foot firmly into an area around the lock, which seems to do the trick.

Ryuu looks at him, shell-shocked on his chair. He stands up from his chair, and tries to avoid Sougo’s gaze. “Sougo-kun… you came..?”

Sougo merely smiles at him, and then runs into the room, his heart beating even faster when he’s finally able to see Ryuu again. His feelings definitely grew stronger, since all he wants to do is act on impulse, throw his arms around Ryuu and steal a kiss. He tries to restrain himself for a moment, but immediately dispels his mental restraints. It doesn’t matter, Ryuu is dying!

Desperately, Sougo jerks Ryuu forward by grabbing hold of his wrist, causing Ryuu to turn and look at him with that same dumbfounded face he had when Sougo first came in. “Tsunashi-san. I love you!” He spits out, “I had to come back because I can’t stand the thought of living without you! Your never ending kindness, the gentleness of your voice, your strength despite your misfortune, and…”

Ryuu freezes, his face turning a bright red from Sougo’s extemporaneous confession, and he stays there-- speechless.

Not giving Ryuu more time to react, Sougo crashes his lips into Ryuu’s, and he pulls him into an embrace.

Ryuu returns Sougo’s rash affection with vigor, and Sougo’s heart begin to feel warm as if all of his feelings are transferring through the kiss.

Sougo’s eyes widen when he notices that golden aura around Ryuu is beginning to fade by going back to the deteriorating shell in the display next to them. He gently pulls away from their liplock, red flooding his cheeks as soon as the boldness of his actions begin to sink into Sougo’s conscious. “I’m… so sorry for doing that without your consent. But I absolutely needed for you to know, at least before you…”

Ryuu laughs, tears forming at his eyes as he tightens his grasp around Sougo. He begins to rest his head in the crook of Sougo’s neck, and he inhales in his scent. “I… feel the same way. And I was so scared you didn’t, so I… didn’t want to cause you anymore pain by making you see me like this. When I’m about to--”

“Tsunashi-san, the curse is broken.” Sougo interrupts him with a relieved smile, and he glances over to the display. The shell has indeed ceased its crumbling away, and instead is beginning to become restored and becoming one again as more golden magic pours into it.

Ryuu blinks, his own eyes wide when also examining the phenomenon happening with the seashell, but they quickly shift to a more tender gaze as he looks back at Sougo. He grins, “it’s because of you, Sougo-kun. Thank you…. Thank you so much for loving me back. For me, and only me.”

“I should be saying that,” Sougo laughs, letting out a long sigh as he squeezes Ryuu again. “Ah, also… I’m so sorry about the door. I’ll compensate for the lock.”

Ryuu shakes his head, “no, it’s fine. It’s my fault for not opening the door. Your singing was lovely, Sougo-kun. I’m… really happy you sang for my sake.”

“Of course I did,” Sougo whispers, looking him directly in the eyes as he leans in to initiate yet another kiss.

* * *

Magic begins to materialize around the two of them, alarming Tenn immediately to peer up from his book. Tamaki glances at him curiously, and opens his mouth in surprise as he also notices the golden sparkles. “What’s happening, Tenten?”

Tenn smiles, “the curse is broken.”

Tamaki grins, closing his eyes as he anticipates himself for both of their transformations back to human like they should be. Once he’s gained feeling of his human body again (rather, Tamaki’s butt lands on the floor and it hurts just a bit), his eyes fly open to see a man with slightly pale skin, and has gorgeous white locks framing his face. His outfit is also refined, that of a butler at some noble house. His breath hitches at the sight, even more so when he finally gets a good look at his facial features. “Tenten?”

“Yes, Yotsuba Tamaki?” He asks in his ever familiar voice with a matching grin of his own.

Tamaki coughs, “uh, you’re much prettier than I thought you would be. I expected it, but like… not this much pretty boy power.”

Tenn snorts, and then stirring up from his seat. “That so? Well, Yotsuba Tamaki, let’s meet up with the others and of course, the happy couple.” He walks over to Tamaki, kneeling down slightly to offer him a hand.

“Right. Do you think they’ll get married?” Tamaki asks enthusiastically, gladly accepting Tenn’s hand.

Tenn lifts him up with a scoff, “unlikely. But I’m sure Osaka Sougo along with you and your sister are welcome to stay with us.”

“Then I’ll be able to see you all the time?” Tamaki questions earnestly, his eyes sparkling at the thought.

Tenn flushes, but nods whilst avoiding Tamaki’s gaze. “Yes, if that’s what you want.”

“Aya would love you too, I think! You’re prickly, but you’re a nice guy.” Tamaki continues excitedly, “and doesn’t that mean you can actually leave this place sometimes? You gotta go to the village and try this bakery!”

“The Izumi brothers’ bakery..?” Tenn takes on a fonder expression, “it does sound nice.”

“So we should definitely go back with Iorin and Mikki. Then we’ll get stuff from home and Aya, too!”

Tenn sighs, “one thing at a time.”

* * *

“Nagi-kun, Yaotome-san, so I take that you two are leaving?” Sougo asks from Ryuu’s side, glancing over at the two who’s helped him so much the whole time. Gaku, his childhood friend, and then Nagi, someone who made his days all the brighter with his gentle encouragement.

Gaku grins, “I am. The old man gets worried about me, y’know? I should at least do him the favor of showing my face around.”

“Yes, my angel Cocona and I must have our tearful reunion,” Nagi affirms with a nod, “she and I have been separated for far too long. As much as I enjoyed the eccentricity of being a mirror, my beauty is truly at its best when I am human in the end.”

Sougo bites back his burning question of _who is Cocona, exactly_ and nods to both of their answers.

“Gaku, you know you’re welcome at anytime, but I’m sure you’re tired of this place.” Ryuu interjects with a small plaintive smile, “and Nagi-kun… thank you for all what you’ve done. Please visit when you have the time! Oh, can we exchange letters--”

Nagi crinkles his nose, “absolutely not. I adore you, Tsunashi-shi, I do, but that’s too much.” He then looks over at Sougo, “but I’ll be happy to keep in touch with you, Sougo.”

“I-If that’s fine?” Sougo stammers in return, looking back at Ryuu and chuckling when he seems a bit shocked at this outcome.

“Me too, Osaka. I’ll let you know what’s happening out there.” Gaku lowers his voice, “and you’re on the run from your old man, right? I’ll cover for you.”

Sougo beams, agreeing to Gaku’s suggestions, “you’d do that? Thank you so much.”

Both of them smile, and dip their heads out of respect for the new couple, and then the rest of the staff sends them off with tearful promises of reunion in the future.

Riku then steps out from next to Tenn, and then flashes a smile in Ryuu’s direction. “Ah, also! I talked to Tenn-nii and the others, and we decided that we’re staying in the mansion! We want to keep serving you.” He walks over to Ryuu, and lowers his head before popping it back up.

Mitsuki apologetically steps out of the line of the manor’s inhabitants, along with Iori. Sougo’s honestly amazed at how short Mitsuki turned out to be, but keeps it to himself. Mitsuki speaks up, “actually, our parents are probably worried sick about us! So we’re going to be heading back. I feel bad leaving the bakery to them, so we’ll be returning to work there. But who knows, maybe Iori would like to keep working here?”

Iori shakes his head, “well… I would rather not keep imposing on Tsunashi-san. I need to help you with the bakery too, Nii-san.”

“Oh, speaking of the bakery--” Tamaki cuts in, “Tenten and I are gonna come with you guys. But we’re going back afterwards. I just wanted Tenten to experience it!” With that, he grabs Tenn by the hand and also nudges Iori to start walking out of the mansion.

“Yotsuba-san, you can’t just do that!” Iori groans, but continues to walk ahead despite his protest.

Mitsuki laughs, walking behind the three boys while waving to both Ryuu and Sougo. “Tsunashi-san, I’ll come by to deliver anytime!”

Sougo opens his mouth to say something to Tamaki, but quickly clamps his mouth shut. Nothing he could do about the other boy’s wants. He instead resigns himself to waving him and the rest of them walking off with Ryuu.

Riku pouts, and he also tosses a wave at the two of them, “I’m gonna go too! I’ll be back with Tamaki and Tenn-nii, okay?”

The five of them also leave the manor, leaving the room sparse except for Ryuunosuke and Sougo, and then Momo and Yuki.

Cheekily, Momo shoots a wink at the both of them as he strokes his chin thoughtfully. “I was thinking we should give you two some alone time, but… Momo-chan thinks it’ll be too bad if you two do naughty things already!”

“W-We won’t!” The two retorts in unison, both of their faces a flaming red at Momo’s suggestion.

Yuki puffs his cheeks out, holding back his laughter with his hand. After several seconds of attempting to restrain his humor, he flashes them a small smile and beckons them to follow him with a wave of his hand. “Would you all like to listen to my performance? It’s been a while since I was able to play the piano.”

Sougo’s eyes shine with enthusiasm, “of course! I’d love to hear your playing.”

“Very well then,” Yuki chuckles as he exchanges a glance with Momo, “well, _honey_ , do you mind singing for me? It’s that song.”

“Of course, darling!” Momo chirps, grabbing Sougo by the hand. “I have some nice clothes for you, Sougo. Don’t you want to wear them?”

Sougo blinks, confused by the sudden offer, but gingerly agrees since Momo seems so excited about it.

“Ryuu-kun, come with me first,” Yuki smiles, not taking the lord’s hand but rather motioning for him to follow. Ryuu, unable to decline, follows him nonetheless.

* * *

Sougo stumbles his way to the piano room, Momo having left him earlier in his room to go prepare in the music room. He tries to rely on his memory, and manages to go on the route he walked with Ryuu prior with Momo (in wardrobe form) in tow. Speaking of that, it turns out that Momo has tailored a suit for him with magic. When Sougo asked him about where he picked up his magic, Momo revealed that he was from a family of seamstresses.

Either way, Momo at first offered Sougo this gorgeous dress, but Sougo quickly declined it since he didn’t think he would be able to move with that on. It was far too ruffly for him to even fathom… Momo did take this in good stride, saying he made that one for fun and gave him a suit to try on.

He takes a quick glance over it again on his body, it being a pristine white suit with golden accents and buttons complete with a white button up underneath and a lilac tie. He isn’t quite sure why Momo deemed to dress him up so much, even instructing him to slick some of his hair back, but Sougo doesn’t mind too much.

Sougo begins to pinpoint the location when he hears faint piano notes coming from a nearby area. That must be where the piano is stationed, so he follows the trail of the music, and quietly he walks into the room where the sound is at its loudest.

“Sougo-kun…”

Sougo’s head snaps up, and he burns the image of Ryuu right now in his mind. His hair is still the same, but his normal vest and dress shirt are exchanged with a similar style suit as his, but it being a dark teal blue complete with a golden tie. “Tsunashi-san, you look…” Sougo flushes, still embarrassed despite being the one to boldly confess to him earlier today. “... r-really handsome.”

Ryuu smiles, “you too, Sougo-kun. You look super cool, too.” As his words dissipate in the air, although never to leave Sougo’s mind, Yuki quits playing etudes and puts his hands in his lap. Ryuu and Sougo turn to look at what Yuki is doing, but the elder man motions for them to look away.

Momo beams, “I think you should start, Yuki!”

Yuki nods, stretching out his hands quickly before landing them back onto the keys. He then pauses for a moment, and then begin to play a lovely melody.

Momo seems to mouth something to Ryuu, who quickly understands and offers Sougo a hand.

Thankfully he’s not rusty in ballroom dancing due to strenuous lessons when he was younger-- Sougo graciously accepts Ryuu’s hand, and puts his other hand on Ryuu’s shoulder. Ryuu then places a hand on Sougo’s hip, and they begin to dance in time with the music. Sougo methodically begins to whisper counts, eliciting a fond smile from Ryuu.

Momo finally opens his mouth, and he begins to sing:

> _Tale as old as time_  
>  _True as it can be_  
>  _Barely even friends_  
>  _Then somebody bends_  
>  _Unexpectedly_  
>  _Just a little change_  
>  _Small to say the least_  
>  _Both a little scared_ _  
> _ _Neither one prepared_ _  
> Beauty and the beast..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is me doing that a cop-out? LISTEN it's important so i just slapped lyrics there.
> 
> me googling "how to break down a door"  
> also if you want to know what's considered ryuu's special song is [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEetzcOitH8), which is also at the end of the soundcloud playlist linked earlier!
> 
> and uhhhh yes i tossed in a tamatenn scene bc i Can i guess. anyways, thank you SOOO much for reading this fic! it's honestly been such a fun time planning this out with my friend (and u can look forward to their rendition of this au w/sougo having the curse and ryuu the one to save him ;o) and here we have the completion of the first fic in my fairy tale au series!!!
> 
> next, should be, according to the twitter polls, tamatenn sleeping beauty, but alas i have barely any ideas for that but i do for gakumitsu cinderella au so ooo that's MORE likely. we will see.
> 
> as always feel free to find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/shineonthesea)!


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